Uncontrollable Fate, part 2: Lachesis' Ruler
by Zhe-Ubermensch
Summary: Yasu, now a leader of Team Ratio, has captured Carmen, for her mysterious energy, and James, to keep him from freeing Carmen. Lance tries to warn her of something bigger, something she should really look out for, but her hatred for Carmen runs too deeply for forcing Chase's evolution. With Carmen slowly dying and James helpless to stop it, the future is uncertain for our heroes.
1. A Joyful Reunion

_Hey hey hey, I'm back! Well, actually, that's not quite true; I've never been gone, really. I've been hard at word on the Princess Bride AU, and a brand new story as well. I've also been thinking on where I want Wave and Trevor's adventures to go in GTA5; I already know that Wave's adventures will go on long after she's left Trevor._

_Even though this story never got many views in the last part, I'm hoping that my comeback will revive this series, and the rest of my account here on Fanfiction._

_-Zhe-Ubermensch_

* * *

**Yasu's POV**

It was the middle of December now, and Yegor said we were close to finding the source. He didn't give me all of the details of the operation, but Lance filled me in on the important parts. Saying that they needed a source of unlimited energy and there was one close by apparently.

I didn't know exactly what they were talking about, but Yegor told me not to worry about it too much. He said that everything was in place and that once we had found the energy source, that _Operation Blessing_ would finally take place.

While the others were still trying to find the so called unlimited energy source, I was training with my Pokémon. Lance had just come in and was leaning on the doorframe watching me.

Looking over I raised an eyebrow, "Hey what's up?"

Pushing off the frame he walked over to me, "Nothing much, except that we're coming close to finding the source, but we can't exactly pinpoint it."

I nodded in response, "So is there a reason why you're here than?"

Lance sighed, "Come with me, there's something you need to see."

I recalled my Pokémon and followed him through the labyrinth that is Ratio Enterprise. Reaching the operation room, Lance motioned something to a grunt behind a one-way mirror. Suddenly the screen in front of us lit up. It was one of the mobile cameras that Yegor had installed on every route and town. It was scanning for something, but I didn't know what exactly, that's when I saw it.

There was a slight movement before I saw what I didn't wish to see, Carmen and James. They were camping out in the swamp of Route 14.

I looked up at Lance in confusion, thankfully he gave me an answer, "We keep finding the source around their general area, but there is no reading from either of them. It just doesn't make any sense."

Chase, who had been perched on my shoulder the whole time, said, "I don't know about you Yasu, but based on what Brudur said…"

Lance looked over at him, "What do you mean Chase?"

Chase turned back to me for approval, which I nodded to, "You see, Burdur, Carmen's Zweilous, told us quite a tale about Carmen's past, and I think that we've found your source Lance."

He didn't move for a second, when he did he turned to me, "Yasu, what I'm about to ask of you is something I wish that didn't have to do, but could you retrieve them?"

I didn't look or acknowledge him, I just continued to look at the screen. When I saw Bruder and the others, and the condition they were in. I made up my mind.

"Lance, give me the coordinates. It's time for a reunion."

* * *

**James's POV**

The night was cold, colder than I thought it would have been. Even though there wasn't any snow on the ground, December was not a good month to get caught outside in the middle of the night. I stared into the pitiful fire we had made as Carmen growled, "God damn wood won't burn."

I sighed, replying, "I'm sorry Carmen, but what can we do? There's nothing I can do about our situation."

Shivering, she glared at me, "Go for a hike, find some dried wood. I'm sick of being too late." Her hollow eyes glared into the flames after, Brudur, now a Zweilous, by her side.

Shaking my head, I placed a hand on her shoulder, "Just leave it Carmen, now try and get some sleep, we're going to need it in the morning."

She grumbled something incoherent, but did as I asked. I don't know why, but I felt uneasy tonight. Something was going to happen, but what? Sitting up, I decided to avoid sleeping, again, just for tonight.

* * *

**Carmen's POV**

My entire body ached from the cold, hard ground. There was no way I was going to get any sleep. But I wouldn't let James know that. Tonight, I was leaving.

It was perfect. The swamp was a perfect place to disappear. He'd be able to take care of Brudur and Criard. As for Unmei, though, I'd have to throw his Pokéball in the river or a pond or something. Then, I was on the next ship out of here. Or, worse comes to worst, I'll swim away.

I have to leave before my premonition comes true. It will be tonight. The setting is just right. I won't be captured and…and _used _like that.

Never.

* * *

**Yasu's POV**

I held back a groan. James wasn't falling asleep. Turning, I walked a good thirty feet away from them to think. Okay, come on Yasu, you're a smart girl, you can handle this yourself.

Pulling the Luxury ball from it's place on my right shoulder I called out, "Diablous, I need your help."

A bright light filled the area I was in and faded to show a Haunter, "What is it that you request mistress?"

I place a hand upon his head, "Diablous I need to go over there," I pointed over to the area Carmen and James were in, "And use 'Hypnosis' on the two over there. Can you do that for me?"

He turned the direction that I was pointing in and smiled, the only way a Haunter could, "But of course mistress, whatever you ask I shall do."

With that he disappeared, and as if on cue I heard James cry out in surprise before the sound of him slumping to the ground. I could hear Carmen stir awake, "…About time, Sergeant. Now I can…can…fin-finally…"

It wasn't long before I heard her slump down just like James. Cautiously, I approached them only to see that Brudur and Vivn were out of their Pokéballs and looking at Diablous, ready to attack.

I recalled Diablous, and turned to the two Pokémon, "It's okay guys, it's just me."

Brudur stopped and looked up at me, "Yasu? What are you doing here?"

Vivn stopped growling, but he was still tense, "Yes, what are you doing here? Last I heard, you decided to abandon master and the idiot."

Bruder growled, but didn't try to correct him. Finding their balls, I recalled the two of them and grabbed the Premier ball on my left shoulder, "Falx, I need you to help me carry these two."

As the bright light faded, a Scizor appeared and bowed to me, "At once m'lady."

Carefully he picked up James, then went for Carmen, but I stopped him, "No. _They'll_ take care of her."

Sure enough, several Ratio grunts stepped out of the shadows and bound Carmen's arms and legs together. I don't care what they do to her at this point, but now she wouldn't be such a problem.

Turning to the grunts I ordered, "Take her to Yegor immediately, I don't want to take any chances of her waking up. Am I understood!"

They turned and saluted to me, "Yes ma'am!"

I nodded and grabbed both of their Pokéballs so they didn't have access to them, "Good. Come on Falx, I'll show you where to put that one."

With that I turned and stalked off to the laboratory.

* * *

**Carmen's POV**

"CARMEN!" she screamed. I shot up and screamed for her too.

"MARY!"

As soon as I did, a searing pain roared behind my eyes and echoed in my brain. _Mary_. _Mary. Mary._ There was a silver dragon. The glint of a kitchen knife. The musky smell of my father's breath. All in the fraction of a second. And then, it was gone. The pain remained. There was something more I was trying to remember. But I felt like some part of me didn't _want _to.

I woke with something binding my wrists and ankles. They hadn't been kind enough to let me lie down. I grunted as I struggled against the binds, but whatever they were made out of, they weren't giving.

I didn't struggle much, being tired and hungry as I was. I stood slowly, having been on my knees, letting the chains support my arms as I took a good look around where I was. The room was really white. It was almost blinding. I couldn't see a door anywhere, but there was a window high up in the room. There were figures there staring down at me.

"Hi there," I called to them, sneering slightly. "How ya doin'? Nice day, cold weather, but at least it's not icy, yeah?"

One silhouette leaned to another and mumbled something.

"Hey, can y'all do me a favor? Could you maybe undo these binds and tell me what's going on?"

No response.

"Hey, I'm talking to you punks!" I yelled, my patience run thin. "Get these things off me! NOW!"

They jumped at the volume of my voice, but made no movement. They were waiting for something, but what? A command? A sudden movement on my behalf? Should they be so lucky.

I fought my chains again, yelling and tugging relentlessly. The lights began to flicker, and I stopped to glance up. Suddenly, electricity coursed through my body-not unlike Chase's 'Thunderbolt'-and, again, my heart stopped beating.

"Sh-shit, no…" I mumbled. I willed the Dragon's Blessing to act up and save me from this agony, and it did. However, something felt…_wrong. VERY wrong._

My heart began beating again, yes, but I felt weak. I felt like energy was being sucked out of me. I could hardly breathe. It was then that I noticed the power of the Blessing swirling around me, _outside _of my body. It was disappearing into the walls, into the lights, and, to my surprise, into a needle they had stuck into my left arm.

The lights stopped flickering. The people in the window murmured something, and took detailed notes. I panted heavily.

"K-kash-shm-mir…" I thought. "K-kash…"

I was shocked again. This time, I fought it. When I couldn't fight it anymore, and the Blessing acted again, I used the power and yanked out my chains. They snapped. I yanked the needle out of my arm. Sirens began to blare. I stared down the walls, trying to find an exit or door. Red lights flashed.

"Kashmir!" I yelled. "Connect! Connect! Give me your eyes!"

It's fact that a Dragon's eyes are stronger than that of a human. We can share our vision, and he can help me find a crevice or weak point in the walls for me to escape through.

"Connect, CONNECT!"

Something hit me in my back, and the wind was knocked out of me. There were armed guards in the room, shooting me with a dull projectile at a startling force. With the Dragon's Blessing, I caught the next one. They stared at me with open mouths, and I grinned through the blue haze that surrounded me. I celebrated too soon. I felt strong arms wrap around me from behind, and a rag was stuffed in front of me. The scent was strong, and overpowering. I felt my eyes droop, though try as the Blessing might to keep me awake.

The last thing I saw was a silhouette of a man standing above me.

"Sleep, Carmen. You need to save that _energy._"

* * *

**James's POV**

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that I was in a very white room, with nothing but a bed. Sitting up from the bed, I glanced around, wondering where I was, noticing that neither my Pokémon or Carmen were here. Suddenly, a voice called out from somewhere in the room.

"Ah, it seems like our lab rat is awake. I wouldn't try escaping if I were you, there is no way out of here."

I laughed dryly, right, no escape, like I haven't been in that situation before. Cracking my neck, I took a look around the room and military mode kicked in. Don't worry Carmen, I don't know where you are, but I'm coming for you. Yeah, there may not be a visible door anywhere, but I promise I'll find you.

* * *

**Yasu's POV**

When I had brought back Carmen and James, Yegor was bubbling with excitement, "Yasu, my dear girl, I'm so proud of you!"

He pulled me in for a hug and I froze. He was proud of me? When he released me, he was still smiling, "Now, we must find a suitable reward for you my dear. You can have anything you wish for."

I was shocked. Yegor was going to give me a reward for doing something so simple. I stared at him until Lance came out, "Yegor, sir, we should take her to the energy transfer room and the man to _White Wall_."

I knew better than to ask about the purpose of the two areas so I settled for thinking of my "reward". I started to think about the training facility and how I had to walk clear across the lab to get to it.

Turning to Yegor I asked, "Um, Yegor, if you don't mind, could you install the 'Super Training' module onto my computer, I really don't want to walk to the training arena anymore."

He turned to me in surprise, but smiled none the less, "Of course Yasu, I'll have someone install it, within an hour." He turned back to the grunts holding Carmen, "Now, come on grunts, let's get a move on. I want experimentation reports done in five hours!"

Now here I was, sitting in my room looking expectantly at my computer. As Yegor promised someone did come by and install the mod into my computer, but he didn't' say that it would take _**six**_ hours to download.

Groaning, I slammed my head onto the desk, only to hear someone laugh behind me, "You know that it won't help it download faster if you hurt yourself."

I glared at him, "Oh shut it Lance, now what are you doing here?"

He smiled, walking over to me, "Aw I can't come and visit you?"

I playfully stuck my tongue out at him, "Haven't you ever heard that it's rude to barge into a lady's room?"

He looked surprised for a second, "What, this is a lady's room, I thought it was the room of my best friend, who is almost the exact opposite of a lady."

I rolled my eyes at him, "Oh haha, very funny. So what's up?"

Sitting down on my bed he sighed, "So I'm guessing that you haven't heard. The results are back, and you were right, Carmen came back positive for the energy source."

I nodded, taking in his words. So they're going to use every last ounce of energy that Carmen has within her and more. Lance was studying my expression, as I was judging his. I don't know why, but to me it seemed like Lance was scared about this experiment. Then again, he knew more about it than I did.

I stood up and stretched, "Um, as much as I like talking to you Lance, I need some sleep. I haven't had a good night's sleep for a couple of days now so…"

He got up and nodded, "Yeah, sure Yasu," he hesitated for a moment before kissing my forehead, whispering, "Sweet dreams, _hime_."

He closed the door softly behind him, leaving me with a bright computer screen and a sleeping Chase. I felt my face heat up, my skin burning where his lips were. I don't know why he always made me feel like this, but I smiled regardlessly, "Yeah, night Lance."

I quickly changed into a tank top and shorts before climbing into bed next to Chase. Pulling him close, I started humming a lullaby that I've known since I was child. Slowly, I let myself be dragged into oblivion.

* * *

**Carmen's POV**

It seemed to take hours for the shocks to stop coming after they had chained me up again. I had no way to keep track of the time. I couldn't see the sun or the moon; there were no windows. There were no clocks. But I was too sore to care. Every movement felt like I was being shocked again. I was on the verge of unconsciousness before I vaguely heard a door or something open. My chains were undone, but were shortly replaced by a restraining bed of sorts.

Vaguely, I remember being wheeled out of the room and down some hallways that reminded me of a hospital. Was that what this was? Had I suffered a seizure and all that stuff earlier was just a dream? I looked to my left, vision still hazy. Lab coats. Thick gloves and goggles, like I was contaminated or something.

I growled, and one of them glanced down at me. Then they paid no more attention to me.

I was slowly gaining my strength back, but I knew I wouldn't be able to escape in time. They probably had a way of subduing me again anyways.

Another white room. They unchained me in here, then hurried out quickly. We had come in through an elevator that went down really fast. They left the same way. With great effort, I stood up off of the restraining bed and took a look around. Well, there was furniture at least. A bed just my size. A wall that separated a bathroom from the rest of the room. A chute that I assumed was for clothes or garbage or something. I would never fit in there, of course. It probably lead to an incinerator anyways. Wasn't about to try my luck.

I looked around again, this time, in a sense of despair. There were no other exits. No windows. No form of communication. I remembered my Poképlayer and went to grab it, only to find it was gone. Someone had reached down my shirt and taken the thing right out of my bra. I used some very choice words to describe my discontent at that.

I paced. As tired as I was, I was afraid to fall asleep. I was afraid these people would do something to me. Well, that is, more than they already have.

What were they? Where was I? I hated the suspense. I paced some more.

"Carmen."

I froze, terrified. Great. Here comes the thunder. I closed my eyes, and connected to Kashmir.

"I was kidnapped."

"You knew this was coming. You could have avoided it."

He sounded tired. Worn out. I cringed. Of course, our lives are connected via the Dragon's Blessing. What I felt, he felt as well, though not as strongly.

"There was a Pokémon. It hypnotized me, prevented me from escaping. You know I was going to do that tonight."

"I do know. You should have ran."

"I didn't have time," I sneered.

"YOU HAVE LIVED FOR **260 **YEARS! DO NOT TELL ME YOU DO NOT HAVE TIME!" he roared.

My head pounded, and I fell back on the bed. "You know you can't yell, you dumbass."

Kash growled. "Whatever these people are doing, it is harming us both. I have felt my heart stop three times just this day. I am too weak to break our bond, or else I would do it right now."

"That's not what friends do!" I yelled at him. "We stick by each other through thick and thin!"

"We are NOT FRIENDS!" Kashmir yelled back. "We never were! We never will be! Especially with the rash decisions you make! I cannot believe I had the pity to bond with you!"

"You ARE my friend!" I sobbed. "The first few days I left you, I stayed up nights willing you to come to me! I look up to you!"

"Like you looked up-or, should I say, down-to _Mary?_"

My body locked up. I stopped breathing.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You do. You just don't want to believe it. You trained yourself not to, but it is holding you back."

"I knew **no one **named Mary."

"You did."

"I DID NOT!" I screamed. "NO MARY! NO MARY NO MARY NO MARY!"

There was a moment of silence before Kashmir chuckled lowly.

"You know what you must do. If you do not, we will not make it out of this."

"It's not true. And if it was, then I would find the Balance, and these people would have all the power they need."

"Then let them. I refuse to die. Now admit it. Find the Balance."

I cut off the connection before he could say anything more. I couldn't stand to hear his…his…_lies_. In the distance, I heard the laughter of a young girl.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled. "YOU AREN'T REAL! YOU WERE NEVER REAL! I HATE YOU!"

* * *

**Yasu's POV**

The shaking of walls woke me up. What's going on? Chase looked up at me in confusion and I mirrored it. Getting up I walked to the door and opened it, only to find Lance on the other side. He looked absolutely terrified.

"Yasu are you alright?"

I only nodded in response as I looked around the hall, "What was with all the shaking?"

He only shook his head at me, "It's nothing, probably just a minor explosion. Now why were you screaming?"

Screaming, I didn't scream…did I? Chase nuzzled my neck gently, "She's been having nightmares."

Lance's eyes widened with concern, "What kind of nightmares? Yasu are you sure that you're alright?"

I knew that he was only worried for me, but there was something else hidden in his voice. A secret that I had to find out. I nodded at him, "Yeah, I'm fine Lance, it's just a nightmare, we all get them. Sorry for waking you. Night."

With that I closed my door on him. I knew he was hiding something, but then again I was too. If I told him about my dreams, of the needles and the man, would he believe me? I shuddered and pulled Chase into a hug. This nightmare wasn't going to end anytime soon, so I'll just have to adjust to it for now.

* * *

**James's POV**

The walls shook, but I didn't care I was studying my surroundings. I've been in here, from estimating how fast my heart was beating, for about 5 hours since I've woken up.

I mentally made a checklist of all the faults in this room, but so far it was disappointingly short. The walls, floors, and ceiling were seamlessly sealed together. Not to mention that the door was one way, there was no knob on this side to open it and it was sanded smooth to blend in with the walls. When I checked under the bed, I was sad to see that it was devoid of any useful materials. There was however another room with a toilet in it, but that was all.

Sighing, I sat down on the bed, there was nothing for me to do at the time. I'll just have to bide my time then. But with what? _Thinking?_ As a man of action, I wasn't often good at that. Especially with what the past had had in store for me. I quickly pushed the idea away. No, I couldn't think of the past. Not now, and certainly not like that. Milo wouldn't have wanted that.

I cringed and rubbed my forehead. _Milo_.

I started to pace to keep me busy, to keep me from thinking about that little boy. He had done _nothing _wrong, and yet…and yet we…no I had-

"Stop!" I screamed to myself. Well, talking out loud worked, but it made me feel like a lunatic. Oh well.

"Alright, James, think, think, think positive, think about, about, uh, uh, Yasu, Yasu, yeah. Where's Yasu? What's she up to? Probably wandering around with Lance and Chase. Eating those berries they love so much, having Pokémon battles, having dinner in a fancy restaurant by the sea. Yeah…Yasu's happy."

The thought made me feel better. Yasu was happy. Chase and Lance were happy. Okay, what else was there to ponder? Well, there was Carmen…Where was Carmen?

"Carmen's with her Pokémon, walking around outside of this place," I told myself. "Having battles, walking silently-so unlike her, but that's how she's been-very quiet, tired, sullen-"

No, don't think like that. Think about her in the past. Happy, outgoing, naive. Loud. Courageous.

"She's yelling up a storm with a bartender," I smiled to myself. "Probably got the wrong topping on her order. She'll get kicked out, but she has enough sense not to pick another fight. She'll probably be screaming though. Probably saying something like…like…"

"James, you idiot, why are you talking to yourself?"

I grinned. "Yeah, she'd say something like that. She would think I was crazy if she could hear me talk right now."

"Uh, James-"

"Well, but _she _talks to herself, so that would make her a huge hypocrite-"

"I **don't **talk to myself."

I opened my eyes in frustration, ready to argue with her, but then I remembered where I was. Alone. In a white walled prison.

Then where…?

"I don't know, honestly. I don't know where you are either. So will you-"

I yelped and jumped up from my bed, and looked wildly around for a microphone or a crack in a wall, but there was nothing. "What kinda trick is this!?" I yelled.

"A really difficult one."

I looked around again. Where was Carmen-

"I figured this out once upon a time when I was living with wolves in Russia. Very difficult, but not highly energy wasting. You just have to concentrate really hard. You just have to _listen_."

I froze. It crashed down on me moments after.

"Carmen?"

"Yup. I'm almost literally in your head. Surprise."

There was such a lack of emotion in her voice, I almost didn't believe her. I was certain I was losing my head, but then I remembered all those glowing lights, and the markings on her back, and how it saved her, and suddenly…

It didn't seem too impossible.

"Uh…hi?" I said.

"No need to talk out loud. I can hear you just fine in your head."

How could I respond to that?

"No need to. Just know that you're not alone. I needed to know that too."

I didn't hear her say anything for another five minutes. I thought she had left.

"James…talk to me. Tell me about someone you've loved and lost. It will help me. Really, I need to hear it."

She sounded tired. Dare I say, defeated. But why was she talking to me? Why didn't she reach out to someone else? And why-how could she do _any _of this in the first place.

My head rattled with her sigh.

"So many questions. Not enough answers. Now, we both know how each other feels. I don't mean to offend you, but this 'trick' only works on those who have a ridiculously open mind. That usually refers to animals and other non-sentient beings. Everyone else around here is too stubborn to let me in."

Again, minutes of silence followed, but I waited patiently. Her voice trembled when she spoke again.

"Let's swap stories. You go into detail about your time in the army. I'll explain to you why I have these…_powers_. Why I refuse to listen. Why I am two hundred and sixty years old. I'll go first to show you how serious I am."

I would be a fool to refuse.

* * *

**Yasu's POV**

The next time I woke up it wasn't because of a stupid little nightmare, instead it was a beeping from my computer. Sitting up groggily I stared at the screen blankly, wondering what it was beeping at. Suddenly it all came back to me.

I just kidnapped Carmen and James, I had something installed into my computer as a reward and I was supposed to meet Yegor at seven. It was eight…shit.

I scrambled to get up and pull on something a little less…revealing. The minute I finished changing I ran out of my room and down the long, winding corridors, Chase at my feet following.

When I finally reached the room Yegor had asked me to meet him at I opened the door slowly. Poking my head in slowly I winced, ready to get scolded.

"Ah, Yasu my dear there you are. You're just in time for the main event."

I looked up at him in surprise. He wasn't mad that I was late? He didn't care? But, Lance told me that Yegor doesn't tolerate people being tardy.

Cautiously I stepped in to stand next to him. Yegor gestured through the one way mirror in front of us. What I saw surprised me.

Carmen was chained to the middle of the room, and they were shocking her. I looked up at him, silently asking him why I was here.

He smiled in response, "Watch carefully my dear girl. What you see here will change the future forever. You see, we've been working hard on finding a reliable fuel source, and it seems like this girl is the key to it all. After a mere five hours of rest, she's completely recharged and ready for us to drain from her again."

I watched silently. So I was right, she was paying for her crimes. It's just that I didn't think I'd have a hand in it.

Carmen cried out in agony, but I didn't care. Why should I? All she ever did was bring me trouble. No matter how many times I looked at it I only saw benefits. Here Carmen wouldn't torment people anymore, and here she was safe, in a sense.

Turning to Yegor, I asked, "So she's going to be spending the rest of her life here?"

Yegor shook his head, "Only until we find a way to replicate the energy. After that we'll dispose of her, far, far away from our world."

I shook my head in acknowledgement, but something felt unsettling. What did he mean by _"dispose"_ and why try to fabricate her energy? The more I thought about it the more confused I got. I held back a growl of frustration and settled for watching Carmen wither in pain.

Maybe this was what was _**destined**_ to happen. If that was true, why did I feel sick to my stomach?

* * *

**Carmen's POV**

I now knew what Hell was truly like. If I had feared it before, it was now my worst nightmare. But it wasn't being bound by thick chains that scared me. It wasn't the helplessness of not knowing where I was or how to get out. It wasn't even the electricity that threatened to send me over the brink of death.

It was that Yasu was the Queen of the Underworld.

I saw her through the "supposedly" one way mirror. Those things never worked. She was there, wearing the garments of these terrible people who subjected people like me to unimaginable torment. She was there, eyeglass snugly nestled on the left side of her head. She was there, the yellow rat practically _purring _on her left shoulder as they stared down at me. Typical of her, she wasn't smiling. But I could feel her excitement at watching me writhe and wither.

I stared straight into her eyes, her horrible, mismatched eyes, and snarled.

Her eyes widened slightly, but hardly at all, before they reverted to their half lidded state.

Now she knew. Now she knew that I knew, and if I ever got out of here, or within a six feet radius of her, _she will die._


	2. Truth Uncovered

**James's POV**

* * *

"…Seventy eight…seventy nine…eighty…eighty one…"

I wasn't counting the tiles on the ceiling, or on the walls, or how many hairs I had on my head. That would be pointlessly wasting my time in here. I was doing push ups with my left hand behind my back, as I had already done them with that arm.

Fitness was important to me, but I wasn't a freak about it. I just exercised whenever I had the chance. After all, if I ever reconsidered joining the army, I needed to be in peak condition. Plus, it just felt like I was doing _something _worthwhile in this prison.

I think Carmen and I have been here for a week now. But I don't know what day it is, I just go off of how often I sleep. Unlike Carmen, I have an ordered schedule to keep me sane. Wake up, eat, train, sleep, repeat.

"…Ninety seven…"

Wake up, eat, train, sleep.

"Ninety eight…"

Repeat.

"Ninety nine."

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

Then suddenly, a loud, pained sigh echoes in my head, so it must be nighttime. I would assume that's when Carmen would be done.

"Rough day?" I try nonchalantly. No response. Not even an exasperated breath.

I still can't believe that Yasu is behind this. I haven't said anything, but I wonder if Carmen was just hallucinating seeing Yasu in the one-way window. She does have a tendency to not say everything. Especially these days. She had promised to tell me everything, but she's been too zapped of her energy for much conversation.

I swab some sweat from my forehead and lean against my bed while sitting on the floor, waiting to see if she'll say anything, or just grunt and, theoretically, since I can't see her, roll over and go to sleep.

Tonight, I'm in luck. But what she begins with startles me.

"I'm two hundred and sixty one years old."

I blink, and try to not let her know how confused I am. She's not serious, she can't be.

"April 3rd, 1753. My birthday. Britain."

She's not a good liar. That's how I can tell that right now, she's not. There's no smile in her voice, no hint of laughter.

"How?" I ask.

"Later." she sighs through her nose. "Britain. I said that. Born there. Mom was a teacher. Dad made shoes. Dad was also a miserable drunk when I was eight. Spent most of my time outside in the rainy streets. _Alone_."

I suddenly feel her cringe, like she's being reprimanded by an invisible force for lying. I know she's lying. Her voice dropped, as if she didn't want someone to hear her.

"…Freed a silver dragon from the docks. I was eleven then. It awoke something in me. I started following my heart. Before, I just listened and obeyed."

"A dragon?"

"Yeah."

"You're serious."

"As serious as a thirteen year old girl with an Electric Pokémon."

Well, she still had some of her humor. And I shouldn't be too stubborn on believing her. My past is almost just as improbable.

"Listening and obeying. Never got much reward for that. Unless you count physical and mental abuse of all kinds rewarding."

Oh.

"I was thirteen when I lost my leg. Weeks before, I'd gotten in a fight with my Dad. When we were released from jail, he took the kitchen knife and swung it down like a guillotine. He left me to bleed out right on the floor. Had it not been for Thomas, I wouldn't be here."

"Thomas?"

There was no reply.

"…Carmen? Carmen? Carmen!?"

Her voice was silent. I got up and paced, I couldn't help it. She'd hardly talked for five minutes and she was already drained. But there was nothing I could do about it. She could be in the next room over and I wouldn't know it.

Sighing, I knew that she wouldn't reply again, so I began with my sit ups.

"One…two…three…"

* * *

I think it was two days after that when there was a sudden power surge, and everything went black.

A door, somewhere, opened.

This was my chance…right? Or were they testing me? Whatever, I'm taking my chance now. Slowly, I opened the door and snuck down the hall. Alright, first off, find some clothes. Second, find my Pokémon. I tried as best I could to maneuver the pitch black corridors, but that's hard when you're a six foot three guy. I made it about a few feet when I heard them.

"Hurry, we have to make sure that the test subject is still here!"

"I don't understand why. The girl is much more important."

"Don't question Mister Yegor, he's furious enough about the blackout."

I heard grumbling from the other. They were close. I had to hide, fast!

I opened the first door that I felt and ran in. Pressing my ear to to door I listened for the footsteps to disappear. Thankfully they did, but my luck ended.

"James? What are you doing here?"

Lance. Why did it have to be Lance. Carmen told me that he came to watch her get tortured once. Smiled through the whole thing. Turning around slowly, I was expecting to see him smiling like a maniac, but he didn't. Instead he was frowning.

"Answer my question James; what are you doing here? How did you get out?"

I noticed something, there was light in this room. Odd. Turning my attention back to Lance, I scowled and got into a fighting stance, "Why should I tell you? You're the enemy now, and I don't trust the enemy."

He didn't say anything for a moment. I took advantage of that and began to scan the room. The first thing I figured out was that this was a bedroom, most likely Lance's. The second was how bare it was. No posters, photos, nothing. Lance was a private person, he didn't want people to pry.

Looking back at him, I looked right into his eyes. They were guarded, but there was something else. Pain. Weariness. Defeat. Why? Why could I see these emotions when everything else was so guarded?

"James, I'm not the enemy."

Five simple words. The exact words that Walter used the last…the last time I saw him. I felt myself relax for a moment, only a moment, before I tensed up again. That's what he wanted. He wanted me to lower my guard. Well that's not going to work.

I growled at him, "Likely story. If you're here, that means you're on their side!"

He stood unmoving, "Just because I'm here doesn't mean that I'm on their side."

I about attacked him when he went to get something. Holding it out to me, he said, "Here, you might want these back."

It was my PokéPlayer and Pokémon.

I looked at him in confusion, "Why are you giving me these?"

He looked blankly at me, "What use do I have for them? I'm just trying to find a way to take down Yegor and escape."

That's what got me. Escape. Why would he want to leave? From what I've heard and seen, Lance is a very privileged boy. Why would he want to run from all of this? He's smart enough to know that he has nothing to run from

"Why do you want to escape?"

He sighed, "Because, I don't want to live life as a pawn. I'm entitled to my own decisions and actions. Because I don't want to be apart of what Yegor has planned either. I want to stop his mad idea before they get out of hand."

I blinked. What? Yegor's planning something…but what?

"I don't follow, what are you talking about?"

Sitting down on his bed he gestured to the chair to the side, "This will take some time to explain, have a seat and I'll tell you all that I know."

Seeing that I had no other choice, I sat down, "Alright kid, tell me what's going to happen."

"Well it all started seventeen years ago…"

* * *

I don't know how long it's been since I've sat down, but I knew that it was hours since I came into Lance's room. And in that meantime, the power had come back on. I sat and listened to what he had to say and I was shocked and horrified.

From what he's told me Yegor was part of a scientific group that was trying to research why certain people were able to talk to Pokémon while others couldn't. They kidnapped hundreds of infants and toddlers to experiment on. Two of which were Lance and Yasu. As it turns out they were the only successful experiments, because they were the only ones still alive.

He told me that Yegor used to be the envy of his peers, when he had them. He was a man brilliant beyond his years, but after he lost Yasu, he began to descend into madness.

That's why we're here today. Because of that madness Yegor began to view the world differently. He refused to forgive the world that took away his "little girl". He became power hungry and cold-hearted. He wanted to destroy the world that took Yasu away from him. He just needed an unlimited amount of energy. One that he found. Carmen.

Lance sat across from me, judging my reaction. Suddenly I stood up, "Then why are we here!? We should be saving Carmen and Yasu before Yegor can hurt them and destroy the world!"

Lance looked up at me and replied, "You think I haven't thought of that James? No matter what scenario I've thought of, none of them are in our favor. I need to take down Yegor first and Yasu's the key. He'd do anything to make her happy. I just need to find time to tell Yasu the truth, but Yegor's got tabs of her twenty four seven."

I wanted to pound his face in. What did he mean the scenarios didn't work in his favor!? If he says that it means that he's only thought of at least three scenarios!

"What do you mean the scenarios don't play out? I doubt that you've come up with that many."

Sighing, he got up and walked to his computer, "If you don't believe me, take a look."

He had opened up a file on his computer and gestured for me to look at it. Narrowing my eyes at him, I turned to the computer to look at the documents. My eyes widened in surprise. In that certain file there was hundreds upon hundreds of documents. All labeled "escape scenarios" with a different number next to them. I had him wrong; Lance actually tried to think of a way to get Carmen and Yasu out of here safely.

"Lance, I owe you an apology."

"What for?"

Turning to him, I ran a hand through my hair, "I just thought that you were some stuck up kid that didn't know what he was doing. But you've proven me wrong. You're a genius and you're actually trying to find a way to get everyone out of here safely."

He didn't say anything for a minute, "James, as admirable as that is, I don't actually have a plan worked out for you."

I stood up and stretched, "Don't worry about me kid, I just want the girls to get out of here alive and not wanting to kill each other."

He looked at me confused, "What do you mean?"

I blinked at him. Didn't he know?

"Well it's clear that Yasu wants Carmen dead, after all, we're here, aren't we?! And after seeing Yasu, Carmen wants to maim her the minute she escapes."

Lance's eyes widened, "Wait! Yasu doesn't want anyone dead! She was just following orders-" he paused for a minute before speaking again, "Hold on, how do you know Carmen wants to maim Yasu? She's in quarantine."

Shit. I just had to open my big mouth. I could lie and say I just had a feeling due to her irrational behavior, but Lance wouldn't fall for it. But, after all he had told me, he'd probably keep my little secret too.

"Carmen's powers…well, they go beyond saving her from death repeatedly. I still don't have all the details, but she…she's been reaching out to me telepathically and talking to me."

I remembered how weak she sounded, how she would randomly mumble to herself like someone else was there. Someone besides me. How, after only a week, our conversations were getting shorter and shorter.

"Look, Yegor thinks he's found his unlimited source of power, but he hasn't. He'd be better off with a power plant than he is with Carmen. She's slowing down, getting weaker-he-he's killing her, Lance. And not only her. I think…I think there's someone else."

It was all coming together. Her random conversations with herself, the faint echo of another voice when she went into that strange state, how her mood could change in a single night away from us. There was someone else…_connected _to her.

"There's someone else!" I exclaimed. "Carmen is physically and mentally connected to someone-_something_, maybe! Whatever it is, they're sharing life sources! They can talk to each other just how she talks to me, but who _knows _how far apart they are! Whoever she's connected to, they must be _very _powerful to be able to withstand all this-"

Lance covered my mouth, and I almost bit him, but I heard the sound of footsteps passing the door, and thought better of it. When they were gone, he sat at his computer again and began to boot up some sort of hacking system, mumbling something about "second chances".

After a minute, he was in the main databases-files he typically probably shouldn't be able to access. He scrolled quickly, and opened up several links. The first was an old newspaper. The headline read-"CHILD MISSING, PARENTS BRUTALLY MURDERED". The year was 1766.

"To sum this one up for you, a thirteen year old girl went missing shortly after she and her father were let out of prison for 'disturbing the peace'. The father and mother hung around, occasionally asking about their blonde haired, **brown** eyed angel. No one knew, and a few months later, their house burned to the ground. What started the fire was their own hearts cooking on their stove."

"Carmen's eyes are _blue_," I pointed out.

Lance didn't answer me. The next file he pulled up was dated some time earlier, about mysterious shadows seen circling the skies. "Too large to be Hawks," one line said. He pulled up several others, all dated different times, different places. Some had pictures, blurry, unintelligible. But the last one he pulled up was a video of some teenagers running from something large and…scaly and…_red._

"I didn't know why we had these files in our database," Lance muttered, "but the pieces of the puzzle, thanks to you, are starting to come together."

He paused the video, and pointed behind the monster. There was a man-black hair, pale skin…red eyes. Just as red as the monster's.

"People, though few and far between, have been known, throughout history, to randomly and suddenly change eye color. Around the same time this happens, they become more and more detached from the human world, preferring to live in solitude. They talk to themselves, are snappy and irritable, and full. Of. Energy."

I whispered Carmen's name. A poster appeared on the monitor.

"DR. DRAKE NEEDS **YOU**! HELP CONSERVE AND PROTECT WILD DRAGONS NOW!"

On the poster was an old dude with a ridiculously perfect moustache, and on his shoulder was a small dragon. Then Lance pulled up the old newspaper articles again with the "shadow sightings". The puzzle pieces snapped. There it was. An article that read, "RARE SPECIES ESCAPES DUE TO CHILD MEDDLING!"

Drawings in papers were rare back then, but there she was; a young Carmen (as depicted by the artist) freeing a large dragon from massive chains at a dock in Britain.

"Mythology always depicted Dragons as being merciless, magical beings, but they must not be as merciless as they seem. Every person who has undergone an 'eye color' change was close to the brink of death before they came back a changed, healthy person. Most of them were seen with a dragon, though no one believed those who saw it. And there are no articles on it, but there have been sightings of these exact same people nearly _five hundred _years later."

I sat back on the bed in a daze as Lance closed all the other files and opened one last window. A tall, orange haired man appeared on a video-obviously he'd done it himself as he stepped away from the camera-and cleared his throat.

"My name is Yegor Ivanov, and I have, as of late, been delving into the mysterious science of Dragon Bonding. This is not a mating ritual, but rather a show of gratitude to a kind and selfless human being who has done right by the mysterious creature."

There was video footage of a green dragon and a small boy chanting something random, and a green light enveloped them both, and the camera malfunctioned.

"Recipients of this gift have been known to possess incredible strength and energy, as well as the dragon that gives it. However, their entire behaviors seem to change altogether to fit that of their dragon, and they even share birthmarks and scars."

The camera cut away to a side by side view of the green dragon and the boy. On their backs were green markings, similar to Carmen's blue ones, and their eyes were the exact same shade of green.

"When their lives are threatened, both of them enter a state even greater than an adrenaline rush, and a strange power takes a hold of their systems, enabling them to survive even unbearable conditions to regular humans. They can communicate while in their sleep and while conscious, enabling them to hold private conversations even in the most public of places. They share one mind, but two different bodies. Their thoughts are almost in exact unison, and their vital scans are impeccable."

And that's when I found out that Carmen wasn't their first power source.

The boy and the dragon were receiving the exact same treatment; being shocked to near death and then brought back by their powers, only to have it stolen from them. The footage lasted fifteen seconds, and then for five seconds, a crematorium could be seen. One oven was larger than the other, and I knew what they both held.

Yegor knew _exactly _what he was doing. I snarled, and glanced down at Lance. But he looked surprised, like he didn't know about this. His hand was over his mouth. _Tears _were pricking his eyes.

"This power source, though not unlimited, will be enough to gather all the energy required for Operation _Blessing. _I have already used four other subjects, and only one other will be required. But where to find one? There isn't one around for hundreds of miles! There _has _to be more of them! I will find them! I promise you! I WILL FIND THEM!"

His intelligent video blog had been reduced to crazed babbling and screaming. The camera fell to the floor, broke, and the video ended.

Neither Lance nor I had the courage to speak for what felt like hours. But I stared at the clock. It was only thirty seven seconds. Lance shuddered and mumbled, "And here I thought he hadn't gone mad yet."

"He's going to kill her, Lance," I hissed, "And from the sounds of this plan, he's going to kill _a lot _more people."

"There has to be a way that we can contact Carmen's dragon and let it know where she is. If it knows, chances are, it will come after her and tear this place apart."

A knock resounded on Lance's locked door and a voice called out, "Hey genius, we need to talk."

We turned around slowly. It was Yasu. Not the Yasu I knew though. There was no emotion in her voice, but it didn't sound cold or harsh either.

Lance stumbled to his feet quickly, awkwardly. A definite first for him.

"In a second Yasu, I, um, busy at the moment."

"Alright, but Yegor wants to see you. He said something about the rightful ruler or something like that."

Lance gulped and scurried out of the room like a kid with his hand not only caught in the cookie jar, but stuck with it in there too.

Taking a moment, I glanced down at myself and realized that I hadn't taken the time to put on a shirt before I had bolted out of my prison room. Well, who would with a chance at escape?

Pulling on one of his jackets, Lance quickly opened and slammed the door. Leaving me to my own devices. There was no way I was going to be able to sneak back to my room. Not with the power back on. Hopefully, one of Lance's shirts would suffice.

* * *

Turns out his shirts were too small for me. I can't say that I was surprised, but still I needed a shirt. I had long released Vivn from his Pokéball, and allowed him free roam of Lance's room. However, there wasn't much to look at.

I tried to access his computer again, but the minute I got close to it, it magically shut off. Okay, I'm going to have to ask him about that later. Hopefully, that didn't alert anyone to my presence. I sat down on his bed and closed my eyes, trying to relax my mind. It made it easier for Carmen to communicate with me, and I really needed to tell her what Lance and I had seen.

It took two minutes for me to feel the familiar buzz of someone else in my head.

"Any idea why the power went out?"

"I thought maybe you had something to do with it."

"No."

"Look, Carmen, there's something I need to ask you, and I need an honest answer." I knew there really was no way to ease myself into this question, so I just came out with it. "Did you kill your parents?"

"What makes you think that?" There was no hesitation in her reply. She wasn't admitting it, but not yet denying it either.

"I escaped from my room," I admitted. "Mine is on level with the rest of the place, unlike yours. I stumbled in Lance's room, and we talked, and he showed me some files. There was a newspaper article dated 1766, and, well, your dad stabbed you that year. The numbers just add up for a revenge scheme like that."

"I did, but only after I was able to walk straight without my vision blurring from excruciating pain. Thomas made my prosthetic leg, you see. He got me on my feet again."

Killing your own parents is wrong. It doesn't matter what they've done to you, you don't kill the people that brought you into this world. My respect for Carmen divided in half.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, James."

Did her voice just crack?

"Look, Carmen…we're going to get out of here. I promise."

"Sure."

"I'm serious."

"Hi Serious, I'm Dying."

"Good one."

"I can't feel my fingers, James. My heart is slowing, my cheeks are numb, I can hardly stand on my own. That was **not **a joke."

I stuttered for words. "No, you're not dying, you're just weak. Yegor…Yegor isn't going to kill you, he _needs _you. Needs your energy-"

"And will keep taking it until I have nothing left. I _am _dying."

"Carmen, you're **fine**, okay?! We're going to get out!"

"**You **are. Not me."

"Carmen-"

"I am _not _fighting about this with you. You don't know what I feel. What I _know_."

"I know about the dragon!" I blurted out. "He's blue, right!? He's gotta be blue, because your eyes are, but your parents said your eyes were brown, so it must have happened when you made the connection and you can talk to him-he can get us out of here-"

"Kashmir and I are not on good terms right now," she whispered.

I gaped at her, surprised that she so quickly admitted to being in a bond with a dragon. "But he knows, right? He knows you're here!? Is he coming for you!? If he comes here, he can help-"

"He's not coming. He hates me."

Blinking, I attempted to process the last three words she'd said. _He hates me_. _He hates me?_ My mind flashed to Walter, but only for a second. _He hates me_.

"N-…n-no, he-he doesn't…he couldn't-"

"Hates me for coming here. Hates me for having Pokémon. Hates me for getting caught. Hates me for abusing our powers. Hates me for-for…"

A sudden change in emotion. Carmen started sobbing, and because of the loss of concentration, the connection broke. Her agonised cries were the last I heard before she left me.

I gritted my teeth. Damn, why was she so stubborn? Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes. Well, I didn't have anything else to do at this point until Lance got back.

"One…two…three…four…"

My ribs hurt.


	3. Where Nightmares Truly Lie

**Carmen's POV**

* * *

The tile floor was nice and cool. Ironically, I preferred to lay there when I wasn't planning to sleep. I liked to imagine that I was breathing with the earth, becoming one with the earth.

It'd be better than…than _this_. This hell. This white, faceless hell.

They pumped some sort of gas into the room to weaken me whenever they were coming to take me back to the chamber where they stole my life. They never bothered when bringing me back. They knew I was too weak to fight. Too weak to do much of anything, really.

And every day was like a bad dream. A horrible, never ceasing dream of pain, fatigue, agony, weariness. Inevitable death, it seemed too.

And Kash, I knew, was getting closer to here every day. Every day, he would make it another fifty, maybe sixty miles closer to Kalos. That was fifty miles too close. I liked Kalos, despite its strange customs. I really did. I liked the Pokémon and the people who played with them, I liked the exotic food and the wonderful towns. Maybe being with Brudur and James was what made it all the better.

And that's when I realized…I missed Brudur. I missed him terribly. And it was while they were taking my energy, too, so it made that day all the more horrible, all the more time to suffer not only bodily, but mentally too.

When they took me back to my cell, I curled up in a ball, still wearing my clothes in the shower that was there. I cried. I missed Criard and Brudur, I even missed Unmei. I wanted to see James's face again, to feel the comforting touch of another living person, being, anything.

Heaven forbid, I even wished Yasu was here to scorn me. But then I'd have to kill her. For making me endure this. So, no, not Yasu. Don't miss Yasu.

And then I wondered.

As difficult as it is to reach out to James telepathically, perhaps I could do the same with Yasu while she was asleep. She'd never let me in if she were awake, but if she were asleep…ah, that was the key.

So I waited. I didn't connect to James to save the energy I would need. Even while she's asleep, it will require a lot of brain power to get inside her head. Best case scenario, she thinks it's a dream and tells me everything unwittingly. Worst case scenario, she knows what's going on, and wakes up.

But she couldn't be _that _smart…could she?

* * *

When I thought it was night, I pressed myself against the cool tile of the room, and concentrated. I thought about Yasu's face. Well, at least, how I remembered it. I thought about her long black hair that grazed her back when she walked, her red and gold eyes glaring at me. I thought of her sneer. The way she stood. The way she spoke. How she dressed, how she breathed.

Then, I imagined she was sleeping in a room not too different from mine, only she had freedom. Freedom to leave, to communicate with other humans.

And I was in.

I was in her nightmare.

She was strapped down to some sort of chair, machinery of all types plugged into her. Monitoring her heart rate, her brain activity, her breathing. Her Pokémon were no where in sight. There were scientists everywhere, but I couldn't see their faces.

She was scared. She was fighting her bonds like her life depended on it, like if she didn't get out _right now_, she never would.

Oh, how I sympathised. I crept past the scientists, who were all looking the other way, up to Yasu's right side. I tapped her shoulder, and she squeaked with fear. Then she saw me. She was confused.

"C-carmen?!"

"Yes," I sighed. "Yes, it's me."

She stared for a long time. Her glasses were gone, so I could see her. See her expression. It made my heart sick to see her so scared and helpless. _It should be the other way around_, I thought. _Why is she in the chair?_

One by one, the scientists began to disappear. Slowly, but surely. Yasu looked away from me.

"Carmen, get me out of here! Please!"

Please. That was a new word. But I couldn't. Not yet. I did unplug the machinery from her, though, to relax her a bit so she could think straight. The long, drawn out screech of the heart monitor going flat captured no ones attention.

"Yasu, I need to ask you some questions. It's very important that you answer me. I'll let you go when I've heard enough. But don't worry; it won't take long. Now, Yasu, where are we? Tell me that, and I'll undo a strap."

She looked like a small child like this. But fear was clouding her mind, which was just what I needed. The urge to get away from here was strong enough to outlast common sense. She must have thought I was part of the dream.

"We-we're in the Team Ratio headquarters! Route 13, underground."

I undid a strap on her leg, and she relaxed considerably.

"Next question, Yasu, and I'll make the scientists go away. What do they want with me? Why are they taking my energy?"

"I honestly don't know," she whispered. "I was just told to bring you here, and James. James probably because he could break you out, so without him, no one knows you're here. I want Chase, I want my Pokémon. I need them, I need my friends!"

So she didn't know about Kashmir. That was good, or else, according to James, he'd be captured too. I could _not _afford that. I changed my voice to that of the man who had subdued me the first day I was here. I told the scientists to leave us alone for a while and that I wished to speak to Yasu alone. They complied by turning into smoke.

"Yasu, I'll get you out of this chair if you answer me this: If you don't know what these people are going to do with my energy, why did you help them capture us? How do you know that their intentions are good? How do you know that they aren't going to use me for some greater plan _against _the people of Kalos?"

I didn't care about what they had promised her in return for my capture. I didn't care if she cared about the people of Kalos. I just needed to know if she _knew_. Her answer was discouraging, to say the least.

She had none.

Yasu's mouth seemed to dance as she tried to come up with an answer, but no sound came out. After a while, she stared at me with watering, fearful eyes.

"Carmen. Carmen, get me out of here."

It was time for the bomb. "I can't," I told her.

She screamed, fought her straps harder, kicked with her free foot.

"I can't get you out of here, because I'm stuck here too. I can't help you if I'm trapped and if I have no strength. This is your own doing, and it is in your power to stop it."

"CARMEN! CARMEN, NO! CHASE HELP ME! CHASE!"

Tears streamed down her cheeks. I had to look away, should I start to cry as well. As much as I disliked Yasu and wanted her to die, no one deserves _this_.

"You brought me here. You can get me out. You free me, I'll free you."

And I sensed that she realized that this was really me, and not a dream. I hoped that she realized how worn and hurt I was. I hoped she saw the bags under my eyes, the knots in my hair and the rashes from the chains on my arms and legs. And I left her dream before she could scream _at _me, and not _for _me.

* * *

She came to my room, staying just out of my reach in the elevator. Three days later, I assumed. I peeled myself from my mattress and came face to face with her, save for the thick layer of plexiglass between us.

Suddenly, a man with orange hair came to stand next to her, "It is a marvel isn't it my dear? For someone so ignorant to our world to provide so much for it?"

Yasu didn't say anything. She just looked at me. The man clamped a hand on her shoulder, bringing her out of her thoughts, "Is something troubling you my dear? Yasu, you know that you can speak to me whenever you so desire. I can help you, I won't let anything hurt you."

She turned to the man and gave a small smile, "Thanks Mr. Yegor, but it's nothing worth noting. I've just been having nightmares, that's all."

'Yegor' looked at her for a second, then pulled her in for a hug, mumbling, "Don't worry my little girl, I'll make them go away. I'll make sure they can't hurt you anymore. No one will ever hurt you again, I swear on it."

Yasu didn't move, she just let him hug her. Why was she letting him do that to her? I know that she'd have Chase kill me if I so much as looked at her the wrong way.

When he did let go, he smiled, "Now, why don't you tell me a little bit more about the Sinnoh region. I heard that they have a wonderful treat call Poffins."

He quickly lead her away from the glass, and the elevator rose quickly, leaving me here alone again.

I wondered that if that man hadn't been there if Yasu would have said anything regarding me intruding on her dreams. And suddenly, I didn't want Yasu to die. I wanted 'Yegor' to die. I wanted him to die for keeping me here. I knew he was the true mastermind behind all this.

No. I needed to stop wishing death upon people. That's how I had plotted my own parents' death. I needed to come to terms with that. Wishing death upon anyone is to wish death upon yourself. I knew that.

I knew that.

"James," I said, "Yasu was just here."

"Yasu? Really?"

His voice was echoey. A side effect of losing my energy. Usually, the voice would sound clear as a bell, but now, it's as though he's at the other end of a tunnel.

"Yeah. There was someone else with her. A guy she called 'Yegor'. I'm sure you knew about this?"

I felt him cringe.

"Yes. I did."

"And you didn't tell me. Why?"

"It's not these scientists that are killing you. It's not even Yasu. His…his influence is far reaching."

"And?"

His breath shuddered.

"Carmen…he-look, it doesn't matter-"

"It _does _matter, James. My life depends on all the information I can get. I don't care what it is, you **will **tell me."

A pause. A loud sigh. A sniff. Then, the revelation.

"You aren't the first Yegor's had, Carmen. The first to have a bond with a dragon. The first to have your energy taken from you."

"Then what am _I _!?" I panicked, I admit it. I knew that there were others like me, but I'd never met one, much less heard of their existence.

"You're the fifth. All the others…all the others…"

He didn't need to finish that sentence.

"Talk to Lance!" I screamed in my head to him. "Get me out of here, James! I can't die here!"

"I-I'm working on it, trust me. But we need your help. We need Kashmir, he's a crucial part of the plan!"

"H-he won't listen to me," I stuttered. "I-if I tell him our only chance at escape is through some lousy humans-no offense-he'll f*cking lose it!"

"Does he want to **live**?"

The question took me off guard.

"Yes, he does."

"Then he'll come for you, Carmen. He'll listen-"

"James, as much as it will shorten his life and permanently scar him, Kash can break the bond if the need becomes too much."

There it was. The one thing I was afraid of, and I mean, _**truly**_, afraid of. I was afraid of, without him telling me, having the bond broken. It would not be an easy death for me as my body attempted to catch up physically to where it should be. Or, in other words, I'll literally turn to dust in the span of five minutes. I'd be dead within two of those five.

"If Kash decides to break the bond-and I'm surprised he hasn't yet-I am _definitely _going to die. There will be no stopping it. There won't even be a _me _to bury!"

"He claims he's too weak to break the bond, but I don't believe that's true. It's just an excuse to give me a second chance. As much as he hates me, he owes me his life."

"You saved his life?" he assumed.

"Yes. He'd lost a lot of blood, but there was nothing I could do about that. Everyone knows a dragon's blood is toxic. All I could do was replace solid things he had lost, like his right leg and paw."

"Like you?"

"Yeah. Like me."

I remembered that night well. I was sick, but I wouldn't let him see. He would have seen it as a sign of weakness, and then definitely would have eaten me like he'd planned to in the first place. But I gave him a second chance. I used everything I had to help him, and he rewarded me for it with the Dragon's Blessing.

"That happened in…oh, let's see…1770, I think. I was in Germany, too."

"That's when you stopped aging?"

"No, just slowed considerably. I'm still growing, James. In fact, I think physically, I'm probably actually your age."

The thought was funny to me, that I was four years older physically than I was telling everybody. James didn't think so, or he'd stopped paying attention. He was mumbling to somebody. I waited, though my head began to feel light from the connection.

"…Carmen-Carmen, is there an air vent in your room?"

Now why would he want to know that? I glanced around until I found it. It was fairly high up though, and definitely too small for me.

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

Someone in the background said, "Found it." Then James was back on.

"Carmen, as much as he hates to do it this way, we've found something that you need to see. Chase is going to bring it to you via the air ducts. Be ready."

And then he was gone, and the connection was broken. When did _he _learn to break the connection!?

I didn't have time to brood on the fact. I could already hear the scampering of tiny clawed feet through the vent, and I went under it to await my "prize". I almost thought it'd be funny if the little yellow fuzzball were to just zap me and run away, but now was not the time for games.

And then he was there, his two ears sticking out of the vent.

"Pika! Pikachu!"

"I didn't think I'd be happy to see you," I supplied. "But any familiar face is welcome these days. What do you got for me?"

The ears disappeared, and a small, dark red book fell through. I caught it with cold hands. The feeling of something I could pick up and walk around with felt foreign after all this time. Faintly, I noticed the feet scurry away. Faintly, I remember getting to my bed and sitting down. But I'd never felt so lost.

Why had they given me a _diary?_ Wait, who's diary is this? I opened the front cover and nearly threw the book away in surprise. T-this is _Yasu's_ diary!

I knew they wanted me to read it. But I really didn't feel comfortable prying into her past like this. It felt…it felt almost _criminal _to me after all those weeks of pressing and prying.

But Chase had brought it to me. _Chase_, Yasu's little slave friend rat thing.

Or Pikachu.

With a heavy sigh, and an open mind, I nudged the cover open so I could see the first entry.

* * *

December 6th 20XX

I dont undurstand, why do they keep hiting me and saying meen things to me…why am I so diffurent?

* * *

June 15th 20XX

I'm sick and tired of the kids at scool making fun of me. So what I can talk to Pokémon, how does that make me any different? Their Pokémon like me, why can't they? Why do peopol have to be so difficult?

* * *

September 3rd 20XX

Nurse Joy told me that I'd have to leave soon. Did she not want me around anymore? I try to help out as best as I could, but…whatever it doesn't matter, I'll have my Pokémon with me. I don't have to rely on people ever again. Just watch, I'll show them all that I'm special. They'll be sorry after this. No one will make fun of my eyes anymore. No one. And they won't make fun of me for talking to Pokémon either. I'll show them all. I'll show them what I can do, the power that I have. They'll be sorry for treating me like this. They'll all be sorry. Those bullies, the construction worker, and even my parents who abandoned me.

* * *

August 12th 2015

I met some odd people today a girl with blond hair and a guy with a Ninetales. I'm not sure why, but something felt off about the girl…I'll figure it out later.

* * *

August 16th 2015

The people I saw a few days ago followed me to the Kalos region, something about me helping them. I don't know, I don't like people in general, but the man's Pokémon are suffering in his care. I still don't like the feeling I get from that girl, neither does Chase.

* * *

August 18th 2015

James told me something today about his past. I feel sorry for the poor guy. Losing not one, but two people that he cared so dearly for. No wonder why he doesn't want to open up with his Pokémon, he's scared of losing them like the other two. I think Vivn is beginning to understand that. Hopefully, he can help James move on. After all, if the legends are true, Vivn will protect James until the end of time.

* * *

August 19th 2015

It's official I hate Carmen. She is the most insensitive person I've ever met! She doesn't care about Pokémon. "So what if the Pokémon's miserable, they're healthy that's all that matters!" what a load of Tauros crap. Pokémon aren't playthings that you can just throw away when you're bored with them! They become your best friend, your partner, your…family. They begin to know you better than you know yourself. They are the only things you can entrust your life to. When you bond with a Pokémon, it is one that can't be broken. That bond is the unspoken agreement that you'll protect the other with your own life if need be. Brudur's already bonded with Carmen, but she hasn't bonded with him. I'm afraid that although Brudur is willing to give his life for Carmen that she won't do the same. The Honedge could sense it, but I have to ask Brudur tomorrow, I have to confirm it.

* * *

August 20th 2015

That's the last straw. How dare Carmen do something like that! How could she do that to Chase. He told me that he didn't want to evolve, I respected that and gave him an everstone necklace to hold it off. I know that he doesn't want to hurt anyone, that's not him. Lance tried to help me, and I appreciate that, but I don't want to deal with people again. How is it that one of the first human beings that I've began to trust after so many years, decide to do something so stupid because she doesn't understand me?

* * *

August 21st 2015

I met with Professor Willow today, I have to say, I was shocked. She offered me to take care of her prized shiny Pokémon. I have to admit that I don't know if I can do it to be honest, but I have to try. Also Lance took me to meet his boss today, and to my surprise it was Ratio Enterprises' CEO, Yegor Ivanov. For some reason he was shocked to see me. He gave me a job without question, but for some reason I feel like I've met him before. He feels too familiar, could he be who I think he is?

* * *

That's where it ended. But it was enough.

James had been right about Yasu. She'd been through a lot, and now that I saw me through her eyes, I knew that I had done so much wrong by her, when all along I believed _she _was the fool. I refrained from tossing the journal across the room, out of respect to Yasu.

I felt so much the same. Kids had made fun of me, too. But that was for far different reasons. _Psychological _reasons.

And then I knew, I _had _to finish the pieces of the puzzle. I needed James to tell me what had transpired that had brought him here. Why he was who he was.

"Aye, Carmen. You need to do it."

I knew that voice. Usually, the sound of it hurt me considerably. I can't fathom why. But now, it wasn't hurting me. I looked around frantically, searching for the girl I knew it belonged to, even though I knew she wouldn't be here.

"Mary…" I whispered. And my throat was so dry, so very dry.

"Mary. Mary, I'm here. He can't hurt us anymore."

"You know that's not true. You know what happened to me."

"You're not real. You were never real, Mary. As much as I wanted you to be, you are not."

"That's wrong. You know that. You know what happened to me."

"I know **NOTHING!**" I hissed. "Go away, Mary!"

"You used to _love _me, Carmen…"

A shadow swirled around me.

"You used to think the _world _of me! Your _**little sister? REMEMBER, CARMEN!? **_"

No. No. No. No. No.

"Please…" I croaked. "Stop."

The shadow giggled the laugh of a young child, and vanished, but the cold chill that accompanied it lingered for far too long. I was almost thankful when the scientists came to get me again for another round of zapping. Yes, I thought. Take me away from here. Away from _her_.


	4. Dreams or Reality

**Yasu's POV**

* * *

My head has been spinning for hours now. I just went to go see Carmen, when Yegor came up behind me and began saying something. He said that he would protect me no matter what happened. What did that all mean? On top of that I don't know where my journal went at all.

Groaning I forced myself to focus what was going on in front of me. Ever since I had the super training module installed onto my computer I've been spending more time in my room and less of it outside. Chase is worried beyond belief, but that doesn't matter right now. Right now I had training to do.

Setting one of the many Pokéballs that were lying around my room onto the scanner, I began checking my Pokémon's stats. As the image of the specific Pokémon popped up I realized that it was one of the shiny trio that I received several months ago from Professor Willow. It was the little Charmander that I've named Ignis. So far his stats showed that I still needed to work with the HP before I was done with his training. Booting up the program itself I inserted Ignis' data into the computer and began his training.

I don't know how long I sat there training Ignis when his voice called out, "You know there are better ways of coping."

Pausing the program I turned to look at him, "And what, pray tell, what are those ways Lance?"

He smiled at me and held out a hand, "Come on, let's go outside. Some sunlight will do you good."

I glanced over at the clock, "It's eight at night Lance, I'm sure that the sun's not up anymore."

Lance took a step closer to me, "Then the moonlight."

Turning back to the computer then back to Lance I sighed, "Fine, but let me get Ignis out of the program first."

He nodded happily and took a seat on the bed. I bowed out of training and took Ignis' Pokéball of the scanner, placing it back with the others before stand up, "Alright, let's see how good this moonlight is huh Lance?"

Smiling he took my hand gently and lead me out into the night.

* * *

Lance had taken me to Cyllage City. Walking along the beach with him felt calming. Chase was running ahead of us, turning back at us every now and then. Lance was just being Lance and walked carefully by my side as I looked at the ocean.

No matter how relaxing and calm the sea looked, I knew it was no different from me. Despite the calm appearance, there was a fight raging on below the surface. It's been like this ever since I saw Carmen in my dreams.

When I woke up after that nightmare, I refused to go back to sleep. I knew that it was really Carmen, why did she have to invade my mind like that? Groaning, I stopped and kicked the sand slightly.

Lance placed a hand upon my shoulder and asked, "Hey are you alright Yasu?"

Looking up at the sea again I countered with another question, "Have you ever felt regret from your actions, but you don't know how to fix it?"

I felt him hug me from behind, placing his chin on my head, "Yeah, are you regretting something?"

I nodded in response. I didn't say anything. I didn't have to, Lance always knew how to make me feel better.

"Yasu, do you know why I took you to Cyllage City?"

I shook my head no as he provided an answer, "Because Yegor doesn't have any cameras here. This is the only place I can say or do anything without being cautious of my words. Here I can be me."

I turned my head to look at him, "Don't tell me that you're secretly a perv and brought me here to take advantage of me."

His laughter filled my ears, "What would you do if I were?"

Leaning against him I smiled, "Probably round house kick you all the way to Kanto."

Lance pulled me closer to him, "Well I probably shouldn't do anything stupid then."

I heard Chase running back to us, "Yeah, don't do anything stupid Black Knight."

I felt Lance lean down and whisper into my ear, "So what do you think of Yegor huh? I mean, I'd like an outside opinion, after all he's taken care of me since I could remember."

Turning back to look at him I replied, "Well, he's interesting. I don't know why, but I feel as if we've met before. Not to mention, he's kinda sweet. Spoiling me like a…like a father would to his daughter."

I looked into his eyes to see his reaction, but there wasn't one. He just gave a tired sigh, "Yeah, I know the feeling. Maybe I'll tell you about Yegor's someday, but not today. Today's just a day for relaxing."

I turned back to the ocean. They're blue like Carmen's eyes…Carmen, her name haunted me no matter what time of day it was.

Taking a deep breath I turned back to Lance, "Would you think I was crazy if I said that Carmen came into my dreams a couple of days ago?"

I saw a look of shock in his eyes, then revelation. He knew something I didn't know, but what?

He forced a wary smile on his face, "What are you talking about? Yasu, you're just thinking about her too much."

I shook my head, "No she really did, it was the same dream I've had for the past couple of months, why would she randomly appear now?"

His fake smile fell, "You mean your nightmare?"

I cringed slightly at the word, but nodded, "Yeah the…_nightmare_."

He gave a heavy sigh, "Yasu there are things I wish that I could tell you now, but it's best if I didn't. Maybe if this ever ends I'll tell you, but for now I have to keep it a secret," his voice lowered into a whisper, "_Just so I can keep you safe."_

I don't know what he meant by that, but I just sighed along with him, "Come on Lance, let's head back before Yegor sends a search party after us."

I took one last look at the calm ocean facade, then turned to follow Lance to his Metagross.

* * *

I couldn't stop thinking about what Lance said, "_Just so I can keep you safe."_

Keep me safe from what? I don't understand, why was he trying to protect me? What danger could I possibly be in?

Groaning I collapsed on my bed. Why was everything so difficult now, why couldn't it go back to before I met Carmen, James, and even Lance?

Suddenly I felt dizzy, drowsy even. Quickly I sat up. No! I'm not going to fall asleep, not now.

I felt Chase nuzzle against my side, "Yasu, are you okay?"

I sighed and scratched under his chin, "I don't know buddy, I just can't bring myself to sleep after what happened."

Jumping off the bed, Chase walked over to one of the Pokéballs scattered around the room and pressed the button. After the flash of light faded it revealed Diabolus, my Haunter.

For a few seconds I didn't comprehend why Chase had called out Diabolus, when I was hit with 'Hypnosis'. Seconds later the room blacked out and I slipped into unconsciousness.

The last words I heard were, "I'm sorry, there was no other way Yasu."

* * *

"Do you have any idea how difficult this is, Yasu? Do you understand the extent I'm going to get into your mind?"

I looked up at her and growled, "And do you understand that because of you I haven't been sleeping for the past couple of days?"

I didn't need this, not now. What I needed was Diabolus using 'Dream Eater' on me. Carmen had no right to be here, invading my privacy.

"From what I've seen of you in the past, I'd say that I'm not the only reason you've been lacking sleep before. The only thing keeping you awake is yourself, and your fear. Your fear of me."

I just began ignoring her as she went on.

"Yasu, you need to take me seriously here. I'm using the little of my powers I have left to talk to you. I can talk to James while he's awake, but your mind power is too much for me while you are. It still takes more energy to talk to you while you're asleep. But I'm not here to compliment you on your will. I'm here to show you something, something that may change the way you think about me."

"What makes you think I fear you? I already know who you are. A heartless bitch who doesn't care about anyone but herself. You don't know anything about me and you never will. I'm not some _instrument_ for you to play with then throw away Carmen. Believe it or not, people have these things called feelings. Feelings are delicate things and can only take being broken so many times before you can't piece it back together again."

I don't care what she has to say to me and nothing that she says will change my mind. So what if she has to die, it doesn't concern me. I always had a feeling that something bad would happen if she stayed here too long.

"Close your eyes. I'll get you out of this chair and take you to my past. But whether you like it or not, I'm not leaving until I've shown you what you need to see."

I made a point to growl at her, but closed my eyes, knowing that Chase was just going to send me back to sleep if I wake up. When she told me to open them, we were in a completely different environment. It's a port of some kind, and there are people everywhere. Carmen pointed to the right, towards the sea.

"Over there, Star. The little girl there."

Following her gaze, I see there was a little girl with blonde hair and brown eyes, and another with black hair and brown eyes.

"That's great and all halfa, but there are two girls. Who are are you pointing to? That one?" I point to the black haired one, who's balancing on the beam next to the ocean.

"That…sh-she's a friend of mine."

I grab my head suddenly, for some reason mentioning the girl with black hair gave me an instant headache.

"Mary, come on, this way!" The blonde girl called to the younger one.

Suddenly, we are next to a large creature, which was slim, silver, had curved horns and two legs and two wings, not unlike a Noivern. There were men shouting to keep it under control, chains locked it down, and they're pressing into the scales. I looked down at the blonde haired girl, whose face was contorted with pity and anger. She ran up to the creature and unhooks several of the chains. The beast does the rest of the work, and flies away. The little girl smiles, waving after the freed beast.

"Fly! _Fly! _That's it, go!"

Turning back to Carmen I raised an eyebrow, "And, the point of this was what?"

"Doesn't the blonde one look familiar, Star?"

I growled again, "One, when did I give you permission to call me that, and two, so what? I just want to have one night, just one, of a good night's rest. Because for once in my life there are actually _people_ who care and worry about me! I don't want to lose them now. Leave me alone before Yegor finds out and kicks me out in the unforgiving desert!"

"I didn't think something like that would worry you," she admitted, completely ignoring my request, "After all, you have your precious Pokémon. What do you have to be afraid of? Certainly nothing like I did when I was your age."

Suddenly the scene around us changes to the inside of a hut. The blonde girl was tossing and turning on a bed of pine leaves. Her newly missing right leg was bandaged, but it was obvious that she won't be walking again soon. The other one wasn't with her.

"Stop fidgeting, child. You'll catch fever."

A man stood over a piece of metal on the table. It resembled a prosthetic leg, like the one Carmen wears.

"Mmm…Mmmaaaaaa…Marrr-Mariiieeeee."

"Really, so you've had to worry about never being loved by your parents, or being forgotten by _people_ who were actually supposed to take care of you, or maybe actually trying to get _people_ to trust you! I've always had my Pokémon, they've never once let me down, but people…people don't understand me. In all my years I've never met someone with my abilities before! I've met far too many trainers who want to hear what their Pokémon say to them, but they're too immature. I'm smart enough not to tell them about my abilities, but I can't make a name for myself in this world unless I tell them about my abilities. That is the only thing I want to do before I die, actually make something of myself."

I paused for a second, Carmen looked like she was about to say something, but I didn't let her, "But, you wouldn't understand that. All you care about is yourself. You never cared about anything else and you never will. I'm just another person that you've used to survive in your life. I'm not an idiot Carmen, I know when I'm being used. You may think you've finally figured me out, but you haven't. I'm not an instrument for you to play then break, I'm a _human being_! I actually _feel_ when I get broken, I actually _hurt_ when I'm used! I don't care what you want to counter with, but the game is over Carmen, and you lost."

"Wait, Yasu I'm not don-!"

"No Carmen the rules of the game were simple, you just didn't bother to listen to them."

With that I left her there, and woke up from my nightmare.

* * *

I couldn't stop thinking about what Carmen showed me. I don't know why it bothered me, and I don't want to find out, ever.

I ran my hand through Chase's fur, feeling the small sparks that was in it. Everything didn't make sense anymore, everything that I knew was so skewed. Everything was just…just _mad_! I don't know right from wrong, up from down, or left from right anymore. Can there just be _one_ sane thing to show me that all hope isn't lost?

Suddenly a knock came from my door, "Yasu are you alright my dear?"

I felt my lip twitch upward a bit. Getting up from my bed I answered the door, "Yeah, I'm fine sir, sorry for worrying you."

I was about to close the door again, but Yegor stopped me, "Well, why don't you accompany me on my stroll around the laboratory?"

I knew better than to accept, but what was one stroll to another couple of hours filled with nightmares. I turned back and called, "Chase, bring me Immitto and Indago."

"Those names are latin for hound and search, correct?"

I felt my face heat up slightly, I never thought that anyone would be able to understand latin, especially here in Kalos, which was known to be the french region.

I nodded slightly, "Y-yes sir, that is correct."

He gave a hearty laugh, "There's no need to be embarrassed my dear. You should be proud that you _can_ understand such an old language."

I gave a small smile and Chase jumped onto my back, Pokéballs in hand. Attaching the balls onto the straps on my sleeves I turned to look at Yegor, "So where to sir?"

He gestured for me to step out of my room, which I did without hesitation, "Well my dear Yasu, I was thinking of heading to the testing room first. Then there are small things I need to check up on."

I nodded and followed him down the hall. On the way to the testing room Yegor decided to have a conversation with me, "So, my dear Yasu, what has been on your mind lately?"

I debated whether or not to tell him the truth, "Nothing much, I've just been training my Pokémon and not much else."

He looked at me sceptically, but didn't press on the matter, "So, Lance tells me that you don't remember much about your past."

I cringed at the word but nodded, "Yeah, all I remember was waking up in the middle of a snowstorm in front of the Snowpoint Temple. Thankfully the Nurse Joy there was out checking on the Pokémon at the temple and took me back to the Pokémon Center. She stood there scolding me for quite some time, before she realized that I was an orphan."

I looked up a Yegor only to see him grind his teeth together, "That fool! I'll deal with him personally the next time I see him!"

"Um, what do you mean by that fool sir? Did I say something wrong?"

Suddenly it seemed that he remembered that I was standing there next to him. Forcing a sheepish laugh, he replied, "Ah, no you didn't do anything wrong, I just remembered something that one of the grunts did. I need to go punish him later that's all."

I didn't completely understand him but I just went with it, "Alright sir, well we're here at the testing chambers."

Turning to look at the doors he smiled, "Ah, it seems that we have," he stopped and held the door open, "After you little princess."

I smiled gently at the gesture and walked into the room. There were other grunts in there working on the equipment and taking notes of the whole procedure.

Yegor entered, closing the door behind him, and looked down at Carmen with a wide smile on his face, "Ah, nothing better than watching something productive."

I watched as Carmen convulsed on the floor, her clothing ripped so badly I hardly recognized them anymore. The blue aura around her reminded me of a Lucario I saw once. I knew in my heart that I wanted to believe her and her words, but after everything we've been through she betrayed me.

Suddenly the door slammed open to show Lance and…James?!

"Yegor, sir, there's a problem down at the generator room. One of the reactors blew!"

Yegor immediately ran out of the door yelling out, "Lance, stay here with Yasu, don't let her leave!"

Looking back at Lance I raised my eyebrow in question, "What's James doing out here?"

He turned back to look at James, "One of the grunts used a Hypno to make sure that he wouldn't leave unless Yegor told him to. Seeing no use for him, Yegor gave James to me, telling me to keep him as a bodyguard."

For some reason it didn't feel right. Something was off. Lance would never hold someone against their will, and what Yegor said earlier was still on my mind. Turning back to Carmen I sat down and held my head in my hands. I don't know what real anymore, it this all an illusion. Am I still dreaming? I felt Chase rub against my ear affectionately. Usually I'd scratch behind his ear, but I didn't even know what is what anymore.

"Come on, you guys! Make it stop! I'm not freakin' blind! I see you up there! James, let me loose! I'll get us out of here!"

We ignored her screams, well I did at least. I don't care anymore. I'm just so done with everything. I turned to look at James and saw that he was restraining himself from running over to the control panel and turning it off himself. Lance kept a hand up to stop him from moving an inch, but his gaze was fixated on me.

It was like he was waiting for me to do something, anything. I just turned back and looked at Carmen, my expression set. I didn't want her to see me in a vulnerable state ever.

Chase did the best he could to calm me down, but even he couldn't help me now. Because I felt like I was walking on a very thin line. A line between pure genius and absolute insanity. I just didn't know which side to pick. Do I live the life I've always wanted, or face the harsh reality that is life?


	5. Laying a Trap

**James's POV**

* * *

I cringed as I heard Carmen scream out for us. Even after weeks of being here, I still couldn't imagine the pain she was undertaking for Yegor's personal benefit. This entire place sickened me, but right now, I had to play Igor to Lance, or my cover would be blown and I'd be sent back to my room, or worse.

I watched as Lance began playing the bad guy in front of Carmen. He walked over to Yasu and began speaking to her, "What do you think, _Hime_? Do you think she'll survive?"

Yasu's head was still in her hands when she replied, "I don't know, and I don't care anymore Lance. I just want this to be over." Again, I glanced into the energy zapping room, searching for any physical structural weakness in the design. But it was just like everything else: flawless, impenetrable, and blindingly white. Lance was right; our last and only possibility of getting out of here was to change Yasu's mind about Yegor and Carmen, and to get Carmen's dragon to tear this place apart for good.

I didn't dare say anything or move an inch unless Lance told me I could, for fear of breaking my cover, so I stood as still as a brick and said nothing. I just watched Carmen stare up at us as Lance and Yasu chatted. Well, more of a quiet argument.

"So a reactor blew?" Yasu mimicked quietly.

Lance sighed and ran a hand through his hair and nodded, "Yeah, it's quite a hassle, but nothing that we can't fix."

I don't know what compelled him to do so, but Lance picked Yasu up and sat down in her seat, placing her in his lap, "So what have you been up to my dear _Hime_?"

Yasu either didn't care or was used to Lance's antics by now because she didn't react to it, "You know the usual, insomnia, stress, hunger…"

"Oh, for f**ks sake already, just kiss and get it over with! Or get a room! Ah, damnit! Come on, Yasu, this hurts!"

Lance had an annoyed look come across his face as he motioned for the "grunts" to turn up the machine's power. After that Carmen's screams became louder and much more pain filled. Yasu didn't even bother to tell Lance to turn it down. She just sat in his lap as he began combing through her hair. It was like Yasu became a little doll that was just there for looks. She even had the right look: smooth skin, wide little eyes and silky hair. It was hard to shake the comparison out of my head. Yasu was _far _from a porcelain doll.

I must have zoned out after that, because the next thing I know, Yegor stormed back into the room fuming mad.

"That is the last time I let those idiot grunts near the reactors."

Lance didn't really look up he just waved Yegor in, "Good to see you again sir, I see that you've fixed the reactor."

Yegor only growled out a response when he sat down next to Lance and Yasu, "Ugh, Lance remind me to reprogram the rooms and recalibrate the door mechanisms."

Lance only nodded, but he knew that I heard. Reprogramming? Recalibrating? What for? Did he know something was up? Was Carmen stronger than he'd anticipated? Was I just being flat out _paranoid!?_

At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if I was unwittingly losing my mind to this white, faceless nightmare.

Yegor just sat there running a hand through his graying hair. Lance only glanced over that him before turning his attention back to Yasu. Who was staring blankly at Chase. Honestly if I didn't know any better I would've thought that they were a nice family.

Suddenly Carmen's voice came through again, "YEGOR, YOU SICK BASTARD! Stop using Yasu against me! Stop _using _her! Stop using her to keep me and James-Ah-AHHHH!"

Yegor glanced up and smiled, "Ah, so you can speak after all," getting up he walked over to the mirror and continued, "Well if you must know, Yasu is staying here by her own will. I would never use my dear little girl in any way shape or form for my own benefits. You however are expendable, as for your friend, he's actually useful. After hypnotizing him anyways."

I looked over at Yasu, hoping that she heard what Yegor had said, but it was for naught. Yasu had fallen asleep in Lance's lap and it didn't seem like she was going to wake up anytime soon, but Chase heard everything though.

Yegor laughed again, "Now it seems my dear that you've been quite a naughty girl. Invading over people's dreams and such."

Everything stopped. How did he know that Carmen could do that? HOW!?

"What did you expect me to do, Yegor?" Carmen's voice had dropped an octave, and was quieter. I could see the fear in her eyes; the first time I had seen any emotion from her in a while besides pain and exhaustion. "You're killing me, and you know it. Yasu hates me, I know, and I've been trying to fix that! But I know that deep down, she would _never _wish death on anyone! Not like…not like me."

"Oh, yes, I know all about you and your little shenanigans, don't worry, girl. Yasu has actually told me quite the tale of you and your disobedience," suddenly he frowned, "But do help me understand the reason why. Because, if I'm not mistaken you came to our world and asked my dear Yasu for help, which she offered, but you still disrespected her and never took her seriously. So why should I let you live? My little Yasu has always held other people's best interest over her own and look at where that's gotten her. This is your own fault my dear idiot, you let yourself get to this point, it won't be long until your _friend_ shows up. And let me tell you, I've dealt with your…_kind_ before, I already know what I'm getting into. Trust me it's for the best. I'll build a world where my little princess will be safe from harm, from people like _you_."

Turning back to the door, he motioned Lance to follow him, but looked at Carmen one last time, "However, if you somehow live through this ordeal, I can only hope that you don't take my little princess for granted again."

This time he really left, Lance was about to leave, carrying Yasu and Chase, but turned to me, "Well what are you waiting for slave, take the subject back to her room. We're done for today." Which was code for, '_You only have this one chance to talk to her, don't waste it.'_

I bowed to him and began walking to the door that lead into the testing chamber. I didn't dare tell Carmen that Lance was the mastermind behind our escape plan, well at least until we're all safe from harm of course.

After waiting for the scientists to unchain Carmen, I bent down to pick her up bridal style. They didn't question me, out of fear of what I would say to Lance. As I walked down the hall towards the elevator, I muttered under my breath, "Carmen, please tell me that you're still conscious enough to talk to me."

Thankfully I could talk without moving my mouth. A skill I picked up when Walter and I conversed as our superiors addressed us.

I heard her mumble something, "Seriously. F**k Yegor."

Sighing out in relief I continued, "Look I'm trying my hardest to get us out of here, but it's hard. Not only do I have to pretend that I'm a mindless zombie around Lance, but I also have to watch myself. I'll get us out of here Carmen just…just a little longer alright, it's almost done."

"Yegor's right. Kash is coming."

It took all my willpower to not stop in my tracks and scream at her.

"He's coming. He'll get me out of here. Yegor hasn't seen a dragon like Kashmir. He doesn't understand the power of Ice."

"Carmen, I don't think you understand. I've been around the whole laboratory. I've seen hundreds upon hundreds of vats filled with molten magma. He's anticipating it. He's anticipating that…Kash is an ice dragon."

She stopped talking after that. She stopped moving, and for a minute, I was afraid she'd stopped breathing. But I gulped when her arms wrapped around my neck and she held on tighter to me as I took her to her cell.

"_Now I think I know what you tried to say to me,_

_And how you suffered for your sanity, and how you tried to set them free._

_They did not listen, they're not listening still._

_Perhaps they never will._"

She was long asleep by the time I set her on her bed, and it was only then that I saw the tears on her cheeks. I wasn't good with tears, or really emotions. I just wiped them away and went back to my "master" wordlessly.

Maybe Lance's plan wasn't going to work after all.

* * *

I sat down on Lance's bed, looking absentmindedly at his bare walls. Vivn had taken to placing his head upon my lap, sleeping peacefully. There wasn't much for me to do, after all, Lance had to give me _orders_.

No sooner did I mention him, he walked through his door. Looking up I saw a tired face and a broken boy. I wasn't sure whether or not to tell him that his plan might not work, but he threw something at me, "Here, you're going to need this."

Holding up a hand I caught it. I realized that it was a Pokéball. Looking back at Lance I questioned, "Why do I need a Pokéball?"

He only shook his head at me, "There's a Pokémon in there. It's name is Trapinch, the ant pit Pokémon. He might not look like much now, but you'll be thankful that I gave him to you when he evolves."

He didn't say anything else, but he walked over to where all of my other Pokémon were and picked up Vortex, and his Pokéball, "But to make this fair I'm going to trade that Trapinch for your Vulpix."

At this I stood up, causing Vivn to assume attack position, "What do you mean you're taking him!?"

Lance looked at me in shock for a second before laughing slightly, "Wait, Yasu didn't tell you about Pokémon trading?" when he calmed down for a bit, Lance motioned me to sit back down, "Okay, let me explain to you how this works. You can't take or give away Pokémon, even if you pay someone, that's illegal. Instead you trade people for Pokémon that you want. Each side has to agree for the trade to happen, if not, then no trading."

I pouted, "But I don't want to trade Vortex away. I just got to know him."

Lance blinked at me, "_Him_? Vortex is a girl, you know that right. In fact each one of your Pokémon, besides Vivn, is a girl."

I just opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I could feel my face heat up from embarrassment, thankfully Lance didn't comment about it. Instead he patted my shoulder, "Just trust me James, you're going to need that Trapinch. Now why don't you head down to the training room and get to know him a little better."

Sighing I stood up. I know that he was only looking out for me, but sometimes it's just too much to handle.

* * *

As soon as I called out Trapinch, I took a good, hard look at him. His face looked like Pacman, except his mouth was angular, as if to mock teeth. The body looked like a turtle shell, but no tail, and the whole Pokémon was orange.

To be honest, Trapinch looked kind of…well, _harmless_. Still though, if Lance told me that he was going to be important to the plan I wasn't going to doubt him.

Crouching down I smiled slightly, trying to remember what Yasu and Lance taught me about Pokémon, "Um, hey there little guy. My name is James, and it looks like we're going to be working together from now on. Hmm, let's see what should I call you?" I paused for a minute, trying to figure a name out for him, "Oh I know how about Boston?" He didn't agree or disagree, but he did look up at me expectantly. I smiled and patted his head, yeah he's definitely just like Boston.

Boston had been a very good friend of mine, helping me escape after Walter's death. Although he was pretty scrawny for someone in the military, he made up for it by sheer intelligence and surprising brute strength. He was the guy everyone overlooked until he had a chance to prove himself.

"Alright, Boston." I stood up and pointed at the dummies across the room. "Uh, show me your moves."

We spent the next hour training, and I was surprised that Lance was right, Boston was awesome. Not only did he evolve very quickly, but he just needed a few more levels to get to his final evolution.

Standing back I looked over at Vivn and called out, "Hey buddy, you want some training?"

Lifting his head up to look at me and the training dummies, Vivn looked like he was contemplating whether or not he wanted to join us. Slowly he got up and walked over to me and laid back down. I sigh and crouched down to give him a pat on the head, "I guess you're staying out of this then," turning back to Boston, I smiled, "Alright let's get back to work little guy."

We spent the next two hours there until Lance came to get me. Apparently he was going out to do an errand for Yegor and wanted me to watch over Yasu. He didn't need to tell me twice, I don't like leaving Yasu alone with Yegor one bit.

* * *

She was pacing in her room when I got there. I tried not to show any emotion, as if I really was brainwashed. Now that I was alone with her, she may pay more attention to me and realize what's really going on.

I stood by her door and didn't budge an inch. To pass the time I decided to try and decipher the girl that was Yasu now.

The first thing that I noticed was that Yasu was really jumpy now. If it have been a few months ago, Yasu would have been calm and collected. Another thing was that her room as a mess. Notes and clothes were scattered across the room. I had personally thought that Yasu would have been a neat and organized person, like Lance.

Something was awfully, horribly wrong. I cleared my throat and quietly lied, "Lance has requested that I watch over you while he attends to some personal business. He is concerned about your mental state." Those words sound like nothing I would say, so I'm convinced Yasu won't see through my facade quite yet.

Yasu merely glanced at me before mumbling, "I don't need you to watch over me. Just leave me alone."

Chase looked up from his position from her bed, giving me a 'she's not going to talk, just give it up' look.

I just nodded and left the room to stand outside. Well that went nowhere fast. Leaning against the frame of her door, I began to clear my mind so Carmen could contact me. There was a lot we needed to discuss.

Slowly, but surely I felt Carmen's presence invade my mind. I knew that I couldn't talk out loud this time, for fear of getting caught.

Carmen, can you hear me? Are you alright?

"Uh, yeah. Just laying on my hard, uncomfortable cot like a potato because I can't even blink without being seared with pain."

Look, there are some things that you need to know about Yasu, like now!

"I can figure it out on my own. I'll just get in her head again. No big deal, it's not like more 'meetings' like this will kill me."

You can't go and "talk" to her again! I don't think she can handle it this time.

"I think she's fine. She's just a bit shaken from last time, I know I can-"

Carmen, please just listen. I just saw Yasu, and it looked like she was going to go crazy! Please just stop whatever it is that you're doing to her. She can't take it anymore.

"Oh, **she **can't take it anymore!? Why that little-you know what, nevermind."

Just give her some time to think and relax a bit. She's so wound up right now, jumpy even. If you keep pushing her she might end up like Yegor.

"…fine. But only because we don't need two Yegors in the world"

Carmen please just take it easy for now. I can't lose you too.

I heard her sigh before the connection was cut off.

* * *

With nothing else to do I continued to stand in front of Yasu's door for what felt like two hours.

Lance came by to "collect" me and we went back to his room.

As soon as we closed the door, Lance collapsed onto his bed and groaned, "I hate my life."

I cringed slightly at his words, "Oh come on Lance, it isn't that bad if you're still alive."

He sat up to look me right in the eye, "If it weren't for Yasu, I would've committed suicide by now."

"NO," I exclaimed. It made him jump, but _that _kind of talk was not something I was going to let slide. I pointed at him with an angry finger. "No! Don't you _dare _let your life depend on her, or anyone for that matter! Because once you do, you're just-just _lost_. You don't depend on others for your life to go on, because they aren't always going to be there! Your parents, your friends, your Pokémon, even! You depend on _you,_ and no one else. EVER."

For once, Lance just stared with a slight scowl, no comeback on the tip of his tongue. I sighed and slid down the wall behind me wearily.

"I just…I nearly fell for that once. Walter was his name. And when he died…I didn't consider death. I just…I didn't know how to move on. Sometimes, I still hear his last words in my ear when I go to bed at night. Sometimes, in my dreams? He's asking me why I didn't die. And I just tell him…'Because I'm not as strong as you'."

Lance looked down at me and finally spoke, "I don't think you understand James. I am lost! I've always been lost. I don't have anything going for me. I don't have any family, at least none that I know of. When Yegor's defeated, what then! I have nowhere to go and trust me once Yasu finds out everything that I've been hiding from her, she's sure as hell not going to let me join her," he paused to run a hand through his hair, "James, I'm not saying that I will kill myself, but I don't have anything going for me. I don't have any ambitions, dreams, or goals. I don't aspire to be a Pokémon Champion, or anything at all. I've never had anything to my name and I never will."

I slowly stood up again and said, "Maybe you can go find your parents."

This time he did have a comeback, "And how do you suppose I do that? Go up to every couple I see and ask 'Excuse me did you happen to lose a little boy with flaming red hair about ten years ago?' Please James, as if that's going to happen."

"Well, you could have it worse, so stop feeling sorry for yourself! You could have it like me, where you killed your best friend for a futile cause, where you had to go awol to keep from getting your ass handed to you. You could have gone to a strange new place where you figured NO ONE would find you and mix with the culture by getting some super powered pets, and then realize that they hate you. Then you could have let your guard down and let two girls into your f**ked up life and let them lead you on a leash to your own personal hell."

At this point, I was ranting. At the time, I wasn't paying attention to what I was saying, but I can remember every word crystal clear now.

"Or you could have been a lonely, abused fourteen year old girl who had enough bitter hatred in her heart to _kill her own parents,_ and then wander the four corners of the earth alone on a shattered heart and a broken leg. You could have been _so close _to death, and then have your life saved by a mythical creature, regardless if you wanted it saved or not, and then spend the next two hundred and fifty years alone _again, _and then when you _finally _interact with humanity again, you could have been taken hostage for your strange powers and zapped near the brink of death _every day _for a plot that would ultimately destroy the entire earth!"

I got so lightheaded from the sudden lack of oxygen, I tumbled sideways, head hitting the floor rather noisily, and I panted to catch my breath. Lance waited. I gulped.

"…But relatively speaking? You got it good, Lance. You always had somewhere warm to sleep, something to eat, Pokémon who love you. And you _found _Yasu. That's, like, a one in seven billion chance, and you _found _her. That's that time you got to spend with her, when the more likely scenario is that you never would have found her at all! And yeah, you may not have anywhere to go after this, but that's _good_. _Because _you have nowhere to go, you can _choose_."

Lance blinked. "Choose..?"

"Outside of the Pokémon regions, a kid on his own would turn some heads. Here, it's normal. You can do _whatever _you want. From what I've talked to Carmen about, she didn't have any ambitions either, and yet she _thrived _for two centuries! She did _nothing _but wander around and watch what we only read about in books happen right before her very eyes! Lance, you may not live as long, but…that could be you."

Lance looked at his clasped hands on his lap, but I couldn't tell if he was just staring off into space or actually considering what I'd said, until he spoke up.

"James…if I were to say that I might, _might_ be related to royalty, would you think me crazy?"

"At this point, nothing is crazy to me, Lance."

He seemed almost disappointed by my reply, but shrugged it off tiredly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Anyways go to sleep, I'll see you in the morning."

"Whoa, hang on a second," I protested. "You can't just say something like that and then not expand on it. Give me the short version and I'll leave you alone."

He only shrugged in reply, "All I can say is that, I'm not completely sure. Yasu seems to agree with me, but it's slightly impossible. The last known royal in the Pokémon world died a few years ago. He didn't have any known relatives, and like I said, Yasu and I are uncertain if it's true."

Lance flopped back on his bed, muttering a goodnight to me, and began to snore. Now I had a massive headache, trying to process the entire day's events and make sense of it all, but I came up with nothing. By the time I realized I was asleep, the nightmares struck me again, and it was another fitful night.


	6. Descent

**Carmen's POV**

* * *

As soon as I started coughing, I knew the Dragon's Blessing was finally outliving its welcome. I started aging again, slowly, but surely. Not that I wasn't aging before, it's just that things that usually took months to occur started to in weeks.

That was a week ago. I think it's a day after Christmas now. It must have been, because they didn't come for me yesterday, and I got a half decent meal of cold turkey and bread.

But that didn't matter. The Pneumonia that had threatened to take my life over two hundred and forty years ago was resurfacing. I tried to conserve as much energy as I could, laying in my bed, not moving, blocking out my mind to everything. I needed the little I had left to fight the crippling virus that was filling my lungs and making it impossible to breathe.

Kash was trying to get through to me. I blocked him out.

Poof. James was gone. Poof. I wasn't worried about Brudur anymore. Poof. Yasu was a memory. Poof. Lance vanished. I continued like this until I'd reached a state of almost hibernation, heart beating only once or twice a minute.

I smiled. I was happy. I was at my most basic state, my _Id, _listening to my most basic needs. There was no pain. Only rest. Rest. I rest. I am content.

Then, the medics rushed in. Yegor cared a little bit about me after all. It was only for my power, but still. _Still._

Steroids. They were pumping me with steroids, one shot after the other, then the oxygen mask. Jabbing something into my chest, there's fluid coming out of me, fluid that must have been in the wrong place for years, and _years._

My heart is racing, racing, stopping, stopped.

Five minutes of them trying to revive me. Trying to shock me back to life, and I see it all, as if I'm outside of my own body, but I feel only a sense of Nirvana. A sense of finally being free again. One flicker of the Dragon's Blessing is all it takes, and I'm gasping and writhing, and the pain is immense.

I should have died. I pass out.

And then, Yegor.

"Ignore him," Kash urged. "Do not let his sorcery fool you. Remember he is the reason we are _dying_."

_We. _It's been a long time since he referred to us as "we".

"Carmen. What are you doing child?"

"Do _not _acknowledge him. Do not give him that satisfaction."

I lay quiet, and still, staring only at the ceiling. I don't need this. I don't need Yegor. But I need Kash right now. I need his fur to snuggle into, to ward away this cold and sense of dread that something very _bad _is going to happen.

I turn my head to the wall, away from Yegor, and cough. There's blood. I groan.

"Carmen, you will acknowledge me when I am speaking to you, do you understand?"

I can't answer. Not if my life depended on it. My throat is on _fire._

Gloved, quick hands are around my neck, and Yegor leans into my ear and spits vulgar things, things that make my eyes widen in fear. I can't even repeat it. _**I **_can't even repeat them. When he's done ranting, he tosses me back down, and sneers at my timid, afraid, frail body. I curl in on myself, but I can't break eye contact.

"You're a _useless _excuse for a living being," he sneers. "You _and _your dragon. Of all the subjects I've had before, you are, by far, the _lousiest, most __**heartless, **_and most _**DESPICABLE **_ fool I have had the fortune _and _misfortune of capturing."

I snivel, and Yegor flips his shit.

"SAY SOMETHING! Tell me how that _angers _you! Tell me how _furious _it makes you! How much you want to _tear out my throat_!"

He's pacing. I am _terrified, _because I'm powerless, and he can do whatever the hell he wants with me while I'm in this state. He's like a tiger in a cage, and it is feeding time and he is _starved_. But more over, why is he _encouraging me _to attack him?

Well, no matter the case, it's not working. Because, for the time being, he's mostly right. I'm useless, and I'm despicable.

But heartless?

No.

As quick as I can (which isn't quick), I sit up. fuming. Yegor grins.

"Anything to say, _Imbrium? _"

I can't help it. He's had such a profound influence on me lately. I start crying. His sneer falters, but only for a moment. That's when I get pissed. I don't have the _physical _strength to retaliate, but by Drake, do I have the _words._

"I wonder," I stated, "what Yasu would think of you picking on me _now?_"

"Hardly, Yasu doesn't care about you at all."

I shook my head. "I said about _now, _not _before. _Yasu's always looking out for the underdog, Yegor. She's been one herself for so long, it's just in her nature. I know she hates me, but if she were to see you **picking **on me like this, in my current state, she'd have _some _negative reaction to it. Maybe at least she'd frown at the way you're talking to someone who can't even defend themself, even if it's me."

I couldn't get any more out as a coughing fit racked my system. Surprisingly, Yegor waited for me to regain my composure before replying.

"Ah, but dear child, in her eyes I can do no wrong. I am the father figure she's always wanted and because of that she will mindlessly listen to every word I say. While very disconcerting, I welcome it wholeheartedly. Lance was just like that as a child, but I've given him too much freedom. No matter what I say now there's always a question that follows, but Yasu doesn't question. She knows that what I'm doing is for her own good, her's and Lance's. Now give me a good reason as to why I should let you live. I do enjoy watching people beg for their lives."

I would've _loved_ to beg for my life, but all of a sudden a door opened with a hiss. Yasu came into view and I felt my dying heart leap for joy. Come on, Shaky Head, come save the underdog like I said that you would.

"Yegor, sir, what's going on? Lance told me to come down here immediately. He said something about experiments going wrong."

I felt my heart drop again as she didn't even spare me a glance. Wait, Yasu, look at me. Look at my state!

Yegor only patted her on that head gently before telling, "Well my dear, it seems as if our guest is being uncooperative. I asked Lance to call you down to _talk_ with her. Can you do that for me?"

It sickened me how Yegor was talking to Yasu. He treated her as if she could break the minute he left her alone. Like she was a fragile _toy. _But, I also knew that he was taunting me about his ability to make Yasu listen to him.

"I suppose I could try, but I don't see what good it will do. Once Carmen has her mind set on something, she won't let it go."

I groaned under my breath, "You don't even know what he was saying. You don't know what he _wants _you to say. Come on Yasu, are you really buying this bullshit? He's just using you, I thought you were smarter than that."

She finally turned to me, but what I saw made me sick. Her red and golden eyes that used to hold a certain light of friendliness were gone.

Instead I was looking into the eyes of someone who had given up on everything but anger. "Using me huh, if I recall correctly you said to James, '_By trying different instruments, I found the ones that were just right for me. And that's how I know that Yasu was just an instrument. I pulled on her strings, and she broke.'_ What do you think of me now, Carmen? Am I some worthless instrument that you can just _break_ and pretend that nothing ever happened? Well guess what? I'm not a stupid little instrument for you to pluck and pull. In fact it's quite the opposite now" I yelped as she leaned forward and pulled me up by my hair. "I get to choose how your life goes from now on. So you better listen carefully Carmen cause I'll only say this once, _De har allerede en plan. Så spille sammen før han dreper deg._"

After she was finished with her speech, Yasu let go of my hair, letting me hit the floor, and left without another word. I laid there in shock, trying to absorb what she had just told me. But all I could really process was that Yegor had steel toed shoes.

Yegor began chuckling to the side, "See my dear? Yasu could care less about you. Even enough to threaten you in a different language. Now I must be off, things to do and such. До свидания!"

He left. I pressed my head to the cool, linoleum floor to calm my nerves and fight the fever rising.

I smiled. I chuckled. I cried.

Yeah Yegor, Yasu doesn't care about me. If that were true, why did she say "They already have a plan. So play along before he kills you." in Norwegian?

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive," I hummed, then broke down again in hysteria.

* * *

"I need you to find Brudur. Get Lance to give you an excuse to go check on wherever they're keeping my Pokémon," I said.

"And _why _exactly would I do that?" James asked with trepidation.

"I need to know they're alright."

And that was the truth. I didn't know if he would buy it or not, but it was true. I was concerned. If Yegor had _killed _them-no, no, he wouldn't do that. I shook the thought from my head, but the motion made me choke. I hacked and wheezed violently, James's words lost in the sound of my own misery.

"Sorry," I told him. "I have Pneumonia."

He tried to say something, but it didn't come through over the mental link.

"It's like static in a tunnel," I explained. "Can't hear you that well, so just listen very carefully, and don't ask questions. Find my Pokémon. Especially Brudur. Don't take them. Just let Brudur out of his ball and explain everything that's happened. I'll tell you what next from there."

Faintly, I heard the sound of a sure, but reluctant affirmative. Then, more scientists. It was time for another round of shocking. They hooked me up just like usual, left the room just like usual. Killed me over. And over. And over. Just like usual.

The seventeenth time, there was only darkness. And _her_. Standing maybe twenty feet away from me. But her eyes were wrong. They were blue, like mine.

"You're not real," I told her. Or, more correctly, I told Kashmir. "Taking her form to convince me to find the Balance won't do any good."

"You obviously need the push."

He had her voice. But her mouth didn't move. It was just blackness around me, and her. Not moving. As if she was dead.

Mary. My dear, departed sister, Mary.

My fists clenched angrily as I willed the thought to leave, but it did no good. A dull, throbbing headache took hold. I knew. I _knew, _but I didn't want to. I closed my eyes and turned away, but it did no good. She was still there, ingrained right on my eyelids.

"You are _not _Mary," he growled, "And she was not a miscarriage. You know she was real, and you know how she died."

"That's a lie!" I screamed. Whatever Kashmir has me locked in, I can't get out. "Mary is fake! I made her up out of loneliness, Kash! Then I pretended I was her and she was me, and then I had an identity disorder-"

Pain. So much burning, burning _pain. _Someone's screaming, someone's roaring. Then, the phantom feel of water in my nose, in my mouth. I'm _drowning._

"WRONG!" I yell. "WRONG!"

Someone's in my arms. They're dead.

"Stop it, Kashmir! Stop right now!"

Her hair is around my neck like tentacles.

"**NO!**"

I start spasming in my chains with the next shock, so badly, that I vomit, and I break free. Alarms blare, and some sort of nerve gas is released. It's not like I was going to fight my way out anyways. They put me back up, and the shocking begins again. The whole time, I'm crying.

I want to curl up and pass out when they take me back to my room, but, I have to wait for James to find Brudur. I have to talk to Brudur. I have to let him know.

I pace. I cough. I bleed. Then, finally, "Carmen, I found them. I found Brudur and Criard and Unmei."

"Get-get Brudur. Tell him what I say. Everything, exactly the way I say it."

He calls him out, and faintly, I hear him call out. He sounds happy, but I could be wrong.

"James," I say, "tell him what's happened. Tell him where we are and why we're here."

He does that, explains to Brudur that I'm talking to him through James, how we're all in danger and we're doing our best to find a way out. How Yasu has betrayed us, but may be a double agent, how Lance is against everything this place stands for, etc, etc. Then James is quiet again, waiting for my next command.

"Just relax," I tell him. "You need to give me control of your body."

This is one of the hardest tricks in the book. Undoubtedly, I'm going to pass out for maybe days after this, but I _have _to let Brudur know that I _love _him.

Luckily, James doesn't question it, and I'm shortly seeing what he's seeing, feeling what he's feeling, and I see Brudur, my sweet, sweet Brudur. I don't have time to say hello, or hug him. I have James kneel down, and slowly, carefully, take Brudur in his arms.

"I'm dying, Brudur," I tell him. James has my voice, and his is mixed in with it. "I made a song for you to tell you how I feel. Something you can hold on to forever in case I don't make it."

The little dragon Pokémon makes a panicked noise in the back of his throat, but I shush him and pet his hair. His fur is coarse. I clear my voice, and I sing for him.

"Lay your head way down, rest your soul, sleep now.

If you're afraid, I'll be here. If you need help, I will hear.

I don't care if you're not old. I don't care if you're not bold.

But if you ever need my hand, I'll help you withstand."

Brudur whimpers, and shudders, and leans into James as if he's dying from cold and needs to be held and made warm again. My voice cracks. He's so warm. He feels so real, but I'm not actually there holding him. But he knows I feel him.

"Lay your head way down, rest your soul, sleep sound.

When you wake I'll ease your hate. No one should feel out of place.

I won't care if you can't fight. I will help you through the night.

And if you need my embrace, I'll bless you with my grace."

Brudur contemplates the meaning of the song I'd prepared for him, breathing contentedly.

"…Zweilous, zwie zwie."

By now, it's too much, and I am too weak. "I love you, Brudur. I have to go. My strength is gone. James, you have to put him back, or they'll suspect something. I'm sorry, Brudur, I love you, brother."

Brudur sobs when he realizes I'm leaving and returning to my own body. James's sight blurs back to my own, but everything is crimson. My eyes…I trail a hand up there, expecting tears. I find blood. My head is light, and I fall forward onto the cold, hard floor. Something cracks. The last thing I see before I'm out is my own blood, thick and dark, and a medical team rushing in to tend to my wounds.

* * *

When I wake up, I'm sore. They must have taken me for another round of energy zapping. My head is bandaged, my hair clean.

This…this isn't my room. It looks like a medical bay. There are lots of beds here. Syringes line a low table next to my cot. I'm strapped down. I'm used to that by now, but the fact that I'm somewhere new makes me scared. This is Yasu's nightmare I'm living. Being strapped down, tested on. They hadn't tested on me before, but now that I'm too weak to resist and near death, they can do as they please with me.

I am still unaware, at this point, what to call _them_.

The room is empty.

I have no choice but to lie still and take on whatever comes next. And I am scared. So, so scared. And so many questions. How long have I been unconscious? Why are they giving me the attention I need _now? Now, _when it's too late?

No, not too late. There's still the Balance.

No. That's a worst case scenario plan. Because that would mean embracing _lies. _But I know they're not lies. I just want them to be lies.

I blubber and sob like a little kid who fell face first off the playground slide as cold, harsh reality sinks back in for the first time in so, so long. The pain is worse than I could have ever imagined, and I can hardly breathe, and that's when I realize they have me hooked up to a respirator. Even with it, inhaling is a challenge.

The door opens. Someone is coming. I want to wipe my tears away, because they're drying and itching my face and I don't want to look weak, but I can't. I'm helpless. I don't want to see whoever it is, so I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for them to say something, if anything.

"You know there was a time when I would have loved to see you like this."

I groaned in spite of myself. I looked over at him to reply with something, but words immediately left my mouth.

Who I saw in front of me didn't look like Lance. His hair had been bleached white and his bangs were a golden color. His eyes that were once black were now the color of pine trees. Under each of his eyes were green dots, looking as if they had been tattooed on. His clothes were a different matter entirely. The only thing that gave him away was that damn smile of his.

A laugh escaped his lips, his voice had changed completely, "_What, are you the only one allowed to have secrets? I'd be wary Imbrium, there is more to Lance and Yasu than meets the eye. While Yasu is not aware of it, Lance is, so do try to be nicer to him."_

My mouth opened, but closed again. Whoever that was, it was possessing Lance. His voice echoed as if there were a thousand of him, but they were as soft as a whisper. Kinda how like I sounded when The Dragon's Blessing took hold.

I decided to let them speak.

"_You know you've caused quite the commotion up here Carmen. Everyone's furious about that _dragon _of yours destroying everything I've created."_

"I don't know you," I quivered. "And he doesn't really mean it. He'll see how wonderful the humans and creatures are, and he'll change his mind. Who are you? Why have you taken over Lance? Are you _still _even Lance? What will…" Too many questions, I told myself. Wait.

Whoever this…thing was, they had power. I could sense it.

"_Now calm yourself child. I can only answer so much before they find out. Now where to begin?" _"Lance" began scratching his chin again before continuing, "_Who am I? I suppose that you could call me the God of these regions. My reason for taking over Lance, well, he asked me to talk to you. Yes, Lance is still in here, and he's laughing at your reaction right now."_

What a self righteous…nope. Don't even go there, Carmen. Instead, I laughed too, but that hint of unease and nervousness crept in along with it. But it was a genuine laugh. It was the first time I'd seen someone _remotely _familiar, and I was just so freaking _relieved._

"_Well now that I've told you about why I'm here, why don't you tell me why you're here in my world."_

I gulped, then turned my head away to cough.

"I was alone," I told him. "I was alone for so long, with nothing but the woods, and the natural animals of the Canadian wilderness. The animals that knew me had long died. When I was ready to leave, I knew that I wanted to go somewhere new. Somewhere I hadn't read about, or been to. That was hard to do. So I…I just went south, then hopped on ships to anywhere, until I met James and Yasu."

The being in Lance's body didn't ask about Yasu and James, so I assumed they knew who they were. I gulped again.

"Vivn was what first caught my attention. I had never seen anything like it, and I was fascinated. My fascination-and my stupid, arrogant, know-it-all ways-are what ultimately brought me here, to make a long story short. I wanted to know more, and I didn't listen when I _was _told, and this is the price I'm paying. It's incredibly fitting," I laughed bitterly. "They say you can't have strength _and _knowledge, so I'm giving up one to fill up the other."

That was all I had to say about it. I didn't think there was anything I'd left out, but something was gnawing at me, something important I was forgetting, but I couldn't put a finger on it.

The being in Lance's body cocked his head to one side and said, "_Well how would you explain my existence? I have both knowledge and power. I may not be the strongest Pokémon alive, but I know when to fight and when to run. My knowledge may be limited to just within my realm, but I do not seek more than needed. You need to learn how to balance the two child. You are holding yourself back because of something that you don't know or want to remember. But child, how will that help you? I've heard the cries of your Pokémon and it pains me to see you give up. However, it is not my decision to make whether you die or not. Choose wisely Imbrium, for this may well be your last choice."_

It was the last thing he said to me, before he silently stalked out of the room, while internally, I fumed. Yes, this was a _god _I was questioning, but it's only human nature to occasionally commit such a crime. Not to mention, this was a god I'd never seen nor heard of before. Maybe it was that Arceus Pokémon Yasu and Lance swore to on occasion. Maybe.

And, in a way, this "god" understood I had as much _under _my plate as I do _on _it. He wants me to come to terms with my past, and find a balance between knowledge and power.

**The **Balance.

That famed power to control the Dragon's Blessing at will was nearly unheard of in the real world, let alone, hardly ever actually reached by dragon and human. What made this "god" think that I could just _do _it?

I closed my eyes, and thought.

Denial. Denial, is it really? I don't think it's denial.

But people with denial don't admit they're in denial, do they?

No. I don't think they do. Do they?

No no, concentrate. That is the question. _Am I in denial?_

Then again, there's that phantom trickle of water in my nose. Still pinned down, I can't reach up to scratch at my nose. No water comes out.

That's not real. There's no water in my nose.

But there _was._ That's why I remember the feeling so well. And it's in my ears. And it's in my mouth-_her _mouth, because she doesn't know any better-

I shudder, and pant, as a grotesque image flashes across my eyes. It's a corpse. A corpse I know too well. A _real _corpse, I don't _want _it to be real, but I force myself to accept it. Because life isn't perfect, and accidents happen.

But still…her lips are so _unrealistically __**blue**_…

She laughs. I panic, and I break concentration, and I lose everything I'd just been working on. The room spins as I'm jolted back to reality so quickly, and fades from blue, to green, to bright, white, fluorescent bulbs.

If Mary was never real, why is her _laugh_ so real?

Everything is so…_skewed _out of proportion. Another episode of hysteria clutches me, but it's just me and this light, cold, steel room. There's no freedom to hide under my bed, or sob in the shower or rock back and forth in a corner.

It's just me and nothing.


End file.
